'Domino effect' calls on shoppers as a retailer with 240 stores to close 'best' branch
Shoppers are devastated as a chain with more than 240 stores is set to close its “best branch”.
Toy retailer GAME has become the latest to close its operations on the UK high street amid the UK retail apocalypse.
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Loyal customers are saying goodbye to the GAME branch in Rhyl High Street, which will close in the spring after a string of losses.
A spokesperson for Frasers Group said: “It is with regret that we announce that GAME Rhyl will close in the spring.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees for their hard work and dedication.
“Where possible, we are committed to finding new roles within the Group for staff.”
Hailed as the “best GAME branch,” the store is a go-to for customers looking to purchase toys and video games.
Heartbroken customers are now devastated by the store closure and are very concerned about the “negative impact” it will have on other high streets.
Unless there is a realistic plan for economic growth in Rhyl, we will continue to see it [store closures] happens every month
Joseph Heuvel
One of those customers, Joseph Hill, wrote on Facebook: 'I just found out this morning that Game on the High Street is closing.
“As content becomes increasingly available digitally, this has had a negative impact on stores that sell physical goods.”
He said he is concerned about Rhyl's high street amid the new wave of store closures in the UK, fearing the “domino effect” will also affect nearby shops.
“I am concerned about Rhyl's High Street because any closure creates a domino effect,” he added.
“Unless there is a realistic plan for economic growth in Rhyl, we will continue to see this happening every month.”
A second shopper wrote: “Unfortunately it's the same on every high street in towns and villages. It's just a sign of the times.”
It comes after the Fraser Group-owned video game retailer closed a further seven stores last month.
This includes branches in Exeter, Witney and Huntingdon, which welcomed their latest customers in January.
Last year, three GAME branches closed in Plymouth, Cambridge and Newport, Wales.
However, the Newport branch reopened just two days later in a nearby Sports Direct unit.
In October, House of Fraser, also owned by Frasers Group, confirmed it will close its branch in Lakeside Shopping Centre, Grays, in January next year.
It has already closed three stores in 2023, including in Cardiff, Guildford and Birmingham.
Sports Direct, also run by Frasers Group, has also closed branches in Swindon, Coventry, Blackpool and Salisbury in recent months.
But it's not all bad news for the group, as the company has also started opening new 'concept stores' as it looks to shake up its portfolio.
The first of its kind, featuring popular brands such as Sports Direct and Game, opened in Norwich in September.
Two others have opened in Blackpool and Sheffield in recent months.
The Frasers Group also recently acquired luxury clothing retailer Matches Fashion in a deal worth £52 million.
Meanwhile, designer clothing chain Choice, bought by The Frasers Group last year, recently downed the shutters of its Bromley branch but replaced it with Flannels.
The British retail apocalypse
It comes at a time when the cost of living crisis, high inflation and rising energy costs are forcing retailers to close their outlets.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that Britain has lost 6,000 stores in a five-year period.
Several brands have also collapsed and disappeared from our shopping streets forever, such as Wilko and Paperchase.
Stores including Next, Boots, The Entertainer, Iceland, Clarks and WHSmith have also suffered.
And Argos, Next, Jack Wills and Poundland have announced they will all permanently close selected branches this year.
In the latest blow, famed cosmetics group The Body Shop has admitted it is set to close up to 200 stores in the UK as the retailer enters administration.
We've made a list of all the Body Shop stores at risk of closing.
British retailers saw the amount of goods sold fall last month, at the fastest pace in three years, as under-pressure households moved some of their Christmas shopping to earlier this year.
Sales volumes fell 3.2% in December, Office for National Statistics data showed, compared with a 1.4% increase a month earlier.
Several major chains are pulling down the shutters for the last time this month.
The trade association's chief executive, Helen Dickinson OBE, blamed the closures on “crippling” business rates and the impact of coronavirus lockdowns.