Hundreds of high-street shopfronts have been left empty across the UK this year, with 6,945 stores closing alone in the first six months of 2024.
The shocking figure revealed in PwC’s latest report reflects a rise of two more store closures per day than the 36 daily average recorded last year.
Marks and Spencer, Homebase, and department store giant House of Fraser have all confirmed closures this month. And widespread retail action will continue into 2025 as WHSmith and Co-op have announced that they, too, will shut branches across the UK.
Major supermarket chain Central Co-op will offload 19 stores in the next six months following the closure of four branches earlier this year that were sold to Tesco. Meanwhile, WHSmith will close its seventh store within a year as it prepares to shut a popular shopping centre branch in Hampshire in the New Year.
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming closures.
Co-op
Central England Co-operative, trading as Central Co-op, is a regional consumer co-operative in the UK based in Lichfield. It trades from 200 food stores across the English Midlands and East Anglia.
The Central England Co-op is independent of the Co-operative Group but is part of the wider co-operative movement that serves its members and customers. However, various locations across Middle England have been earmarked for closure because they have been “financially unsustainable for some time”.
Branches in Barnby Dun, Leicester, Stafford, and Peterborough are among 19 stores that will close in the coming months. Of these, 16 will be sold to Samy Limited, an independent convenience chain that currently operates 32 Budgens, Spar, Londis, and Premier stores across the UK.
The remaining three branches will be sold to B&M and re-open as new sites for the home retail brand. These include current Central Co-op shops in Cromer, Norfolk, Erdington in the West Midlands and Shepshed in Leicestershire.
As for job losses, the retailer claimed that it was confident that staff at the 19 stores would be offered new roles as part of the sales process.
WHSmith
WHSmith has announced their Basingstoke branch will close at the beginning of 2025 after more than 50 years of trade.
The stationery store inside The Malls shopping centre will lock its doors for good on February 1, the Basingstoke Gazette reported.
Shoppers will be able to bag a bargain at one of the many sales that will be launched in-store over the next few weeks ahead of its closure. According to the local paper, some stock is being sold off with a 30 percent discount.
Five sites were axed by the retailer earlier this year:
- Alfreton, Derbyshire – January, 2024
- Ramsgate, Kent – January, 2024
- Oban, Argyll and Bute, Scotland – February, 2024
- Nantwich, South Cheshire – February, 2024
- Margate, Kent – April 20, 2024
- Sale, Manchester – September 2024
However, it’s not all bad news for fans of the stationery giant. There are some new stores opening as WHSmith moves away from old format high street stores to instead focus on travel hubs, such as train stations and airports.
According to its company accounts, travel sales grew by 15 percent over the same time frame compared to a three percent fall in revenue for its high street portfolio.
