A MAJOR stationary chain has suddenly shut down a beloved shopping centre branch with no notice.
Devastated customers warned “many more will follow” after another blow to the high street was announced in Southampton last week.
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Locals were saddened to see their well-loved stationary store Typo, located in Westquay mall, shuttered on Wednesday.
The Australian brand gave no reasoning for the closure, and it is understood staff were also blindsided by the move.
A spokesperson for the shopping centre told the DailyEcho: “We look forward to providing an update on the exciting plans we have for the space.”
It came as a shock to residents who have frequented the store since it opened in 2019.
The closest branch is now in Basingstoke, which is situated nearly 30 miles away.
One shopper commented: “Sadly there will be many more to follow”.
This comes as both independent retailers and industry giants are struggling to keep shops afloat.
We also reported today how a major fashion chain is set to close its doors for good next week.
Shoppers in Salisbury have one week left to visit lifestyle retailer Joules, as the store prepares to close its doors permanently.
A notice posted on the shop window of the New Canal Street branch last week confirmed that the store will close on Easter Monday, April 21.
And, just yesterday people across the UK were devastated to hear one of Britain’s biggest sports retailers confirmed it will shutter 50 stores in 2026.
JD Sports, which has 4,500 stores across 36 countries, including 412 in the UK, confirmed the closures to The Sun.
And, also this week, a huge charity shop chain waved goodbye to three stores ahead of 47 more soon shutting permanently.
Scope, which runs branches across England and Wales, has shuttered the three stores this month.
A shop in Newport, Wales, shut on April 5, while a Southampton store and Atherstone branch closed on April 11 and April 12, respectively.
A further 43 Scope stores are set to close between now and March 31, 2026, while a further four will shut in the 2026/27 financial year.
This is in addition to 24 sites which have ceased trading since the start of the year.
It comes after Scope launched a consultation in January proposing to close 77 of its 138 shops in England and Wales.
Dozens of shops are set to close across the country before the end of the month in the latest blow to UK high streets.
Just four months into 2025 and it’s already proving to be another tough year for many major brands.
Rising living costs – which mean shoppers have less cash to burn – and an increase in online shopping has battered retail in recent years.
This year former staple of the high street Quiz crashed into administration with the immediate closure of 23 stores.
New Look bosses made the decision to axe nearly 100 branches as they battle challenges linked to Autumn Budget tax changes.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer’s 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
This equates to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on New Look’s 8,000-strong workforce.
It’s understood the latest drive to accelerate closures is driven by the upcoming increase in National Insurance contributions for employers.
The move, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October, is expected to hit retailers hard – and the British Retail Consortium has predicted these changes will create a £2.3billion bill for the sector.
Meanwhile, the WHSmith brand name looks set to vanish from British high streets after 230 years.
In a fresh update, Boots UK also told The Sun that 253 stores have now shut as part of cost-cutting plans.
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.”