‘Cannot believe this is happening’ cry shoppers as major DIY retailer confirms exact date this month it will close shop
A MAJOR DIY retailer has confirmed the exact date it will close another store later this month.
B&Q will close its Sudbury store on Saturday, July 20, after serving the local community for over 12 years.
It’s a one-stop shop for everything from garden furniture to tools and kitchen appliances.
However, the DIY giant is closing this store once the lease expires.
Shoppers have taken to social media to share their frustration and sadness about the closure.
One person posted on Facebook and said: “I still cannot believe this is happening.
“I’m self-employed, and I probably come to this store about 2-4 times a week to get what I need, and now I will have to go to Colchester or bury St Edmunds for certain things.”
Another said: “All about greed. These landlords only see money.”
“Such a shame,” said a third shopper.
A B&Q spokesperson said: “Due to unsuccessful negotiations to renew the lease at our Sudbury store, we will be closing our doors on July 20, 2024 at 4pm.
“We are grateful for our team who has been serving the Sudbury community with their home improvement projects for over 12 years.
“New store openings remain at the heart of our retail growth strategy, and it is our long-term ambition to have a store in the Sudbury area so are exploring all available options.”
B&Q recently shut its store in Sutton, South London, on June 8.
The shop closed for the same reason after a spokesperson said the DIY chain had been unsuccessful in negotiating to renew the lease.
Just because a chain is closing a shop, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s struggling.
Most stores close because companies try to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
In some instances, a company may have to close a store because they can’t agree to terms with the landlord.
Despite the closure, B&Q said that new store openings “remain at the heart of our retail growth strategy”.
Last March, B&Q shut eight “mini-shops” located inside Asda supermarkets.
The retailer said it intended to launch smaller stores along the high street instead.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom on the high street.
Several major retailers have plans to increase their store counts.
Retailers opening stores
IT'S not all bad news on the high street as several retailers are bucking the trend and opening shops.
- German discounter Aldi has announced it will open 35 new UK stores this year. The openings form part of Aldi‘s long-term target of operating 1,500 stores in the UK.
- Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores as it looks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
- Purepay Retail Limited , the parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) and Peacocks, Purepay Retail Limited, has said it wants to open 100 new high street stores over the next 18 months.
- Home Bargains has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
- Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
- Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
- Tesco has revealed plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year as part of major expansion plans.
- WHSmith has turned its focus to the travel side of its business, with plans to open new sites in airports, railway stations and hospitals.