A HISTORIC 185-year-old pie and butchers shop is set to close its doors in weeks in a big blow for the high street.
The much-loved institution will pull down its shutters later this month after first opening in 1840.
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Burchall’s, in St Helen’s, Merseyside, will welcome in customers for the final time on March 29, the St Helens Star reports.
A sign has been placed in the window of the town centre shop announcing the news.
It reads: “It is with regret that Burchall’s will be closing down on Saturday, March 29.
“We would like to thank all our loyal customers who have supported us over many years.”
Read more on Store Closures
News of the closure has been met with devastation from locals who rely on the shop for the “best” pork pies.
One local, posting on Facebook, said: “End of an era…tastiest pork pies ever…gonna miss them.”
Another commented: “An absolute travesty. My youngest son is heartbroken.”
A third added: “So sad, best pies ever made.”
Meanwhile, a fourth added: “Best pies about! Gutted there will be no more.”
OTHER BUTCHERS CLOSURES
The closure of Burchall’s comes after a host of other butchers shut their doors for good in recent years.
Much-loved family butchers Wendy Donald in Blairgowrie, Scotland, confirmed last month it would shut after a car crashed into the shop.
Thomson Family Butchers in Dundee, which sold “top quality local produce”, also shut its doors for the final time last September.
Further back, East Runton Butchers in Runton closed after 70 years at the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, CN Wright Butchers in Codnor, Derbyshire, closed after 135 years midway through the same year.
Historic butchers GH Porter in Nottinghamshire confirmed it would close in 2023 after opening over 130 years prior too.
BAKERIES CLOSURES
It’s not just butchers who have closed branches across the UK in recent years, but a number of bakeries too.
Just last week, family-run artisan bakery The Crusty Cob closed all nine of its shops across Devon and Somerset.
In a statement, directors of the bakery chain Neil, Howard, and Trudy Tubbs, said the decision to close the branches had come due to a number of factors, including lower footfall and increased energy costs.
Bennetts Family Bakers in Westbourne, Bournemouth, pulled down its shutters permanently after 75 years last month too.
A number of big chains have closed branches across the UK in recent months too.
Although it’s worth bearing in mind it’s common practice for bigger retailers to open and close branches based on customer demand and sales.
Greggs has revealed it is set to close a branch in Cambridge on March 31.
Meanwhile, Pattiserie Valerie suddenly shut a shop last month, leaving customers devastated.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
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