Shoppers delighted as bargain chain’s town centre branch saved from closure in eleventh hour deal
A MAJOR bargain chain’s town centre store has been saved from closure just days before it was due to shutter its doors for good.
Locals described the news that Poundland would not close its Hitchin store as “brilliant”.
Last month the retail giant, which has 850 branches, announced it would close the Hitchin branch tomorrow (July 16).
At the time Poundland said it had “been unable to secure a long-term lease that would enable us to keep trading”.
But the budget retailer has today confirmed that the store will remain open after a deal was reached.
One local commenting on the announcement said: “That’s great news for all the staff and the people of Hitchin.”
Another said: “Oh my goodness! What a rollercoaster of emotions.”
A third added: “Brilliant.”
While the Hitchin site has been saved, Poundland and others have been closing other high street sites amid difficult days for retail.
Among the stores closing in the coming weeks is a Poundland branch in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, which will shut its doors on July 20.
The Trowbridge closure is not the only to be announced by Poundland in recent months.
The discounter pulled down the shutters on a store in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, just last month, after taking it on from failed chain Wilko last year.
Poundland bought 71 ex-Wilko stores when the retailer fell into administration last year.
The discounter re-branded the locations and opened many up before Christmas.
But since then, several have closed down, including in Ellesmere Port, Galashiels, Scotland, and the Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich.
In total, Poundland has shut down nine former Wilko locations just months after bringing them back to life.
However, despite the nine closures, it still means Poundland has massively grown its presence on the high street in recent months.
It is also normal for retailers to open and close branches in different areas depending on customer demand.
Poundland is also undertaking a huge new makeover project that the chain is calling “Project Evo” and some renovations have already been completed.
This includes sites in Urmston, Greater Manchester, Wolverhampton, West Midlands and Leeds Crown Point.
In total, 150 stores will receive makeovers between now and August 2024.
After the alterations, all the stores will offer more baby and kids clothing for parents on a budget.
The introduction of chilled food will give shoppers the chance to pick up items from Poundland’s popular frozen food ranges.
Shoppers will also be able to pick up Poundlands £3 meal deal in each location.
What else is happening on the high street?
Since the coronavirus pandemic, the high street has been badly affected with many businesses forced to shut down.
Plenty of big high street names, such as Wilko and Paperchase, are now a thing of the past, with hundreds of shops closed and thousands of staff having lost their jobs.
July closures will include B&M in Lord Street, Gainsborough, which will close on Wednesday (July 17).
But locals won’t need to wait for long to get their bargains because a new branch in the same area will open on Saturday (July 20).
It comes after the B&M in Oldham’s Spindles Shopping Centre store closed on June 22.
But a new branch in the same shopping centre opened at its new site on June 26.
B&Q will shut its Sudbury store in Suffolk on Saturday due to the expiry of the lease.
The landlord has secured planning permission to redevelop the site and occupy the B&Q unit.
It comes after B&Q also shut an “essential ” store in June.
On the same day a branch of Card Factory in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, will close as will a branch of Robert Dyas in Castlepoint, Bournemouth after the store was served a notice by their landlord.
A Card Factory spokesperson said: “We continually review our estate of over 1,050 stores across the UK and Ireland.
“With our other Cumbernauld store just around the corner in the Antonine Shopping Centre on Forth Walk, (0.2 miles away), we have taken the decision to close our store on Teviot Street from July 20.
On July 24 Costa Coffee will close a branch in Inverness.
The closure comes after Costa shut the doors to dozens of its sites in recent months.
Meanwhile Peacocks, on Holywell High Street in Flintshire, Wales, is closing down on July 25.
The closure follows Peacocks in Arc Shopping Centre in Bury St Edmunds on January 25th 2024.
The Works is set to shut down its site in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland on July 26.
The discount retailer claims the decision was made after failing to agree on a new lease for the premises on Marygate.
Difficulties on the high street have been worsened by the cost of living crisis, which has seen households with less money in their pockets, leading some to cut back on their spending.
This has had a knock-on effect on high street shops, which have seen lower footfall and less money landing in the tills, and many have been forced to close outlets.
That, coupled with ongoing restructuring plans and high rents, has meant several chains have shuttered hundreds of sites.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research, a research foundation, revealed almost 10,500 shops closed for the final time in 2023.
The 12-month period also saw over 119,000 jobs lost across the sector.
There was further shock news for retail just this week when The Sun exclusively revealed that Carpetright had filed a notice to appoint administrators, with all its 272 stores at risk.
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.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre’s director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is “less bad” than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
“The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend,” Prof Bamfield said.
“Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023’s biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
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