A DIY store with 230 stores will close the doors of large stores for good this weekend
A POPULAR hardware store with more than 230 branches will close permanently within a few days.
Shoppers have been moved to tears after Wickes announced it will close its Bristol branch.
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The trade and hardware store on Winterstoke Road in Ashton Gate will pull down its shutters on February 24, leaving local customers gasping.
Reacting to the news, one customer wrote on Facebook: “Gone are our DIY days.”
Another said: “I can’t believe it, 40 years ago I started working there and now it’s going.”
A third said: “Crazy how time flies.”
It’s understood around 30 employees will be affected by the store closure – and they will all be deployed to the local news website from other locations Bristol World reports.
Several notices have been put up around the store, urging customers to visit the nearest branch on Aldermoor Way in Longwell Green.
Wickes has not yet officially revealed the reason behind this move, but it is believed to be linked to plans for a new Sports Quarter on the site of the store and adjacent businesses.
The Sun has asked Wickes for comment.
Full list of Wickes stores
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 five years.
Numerous The big brands have ended up in administration in the past twelve months, including major discounter Wilko.
But it has since returned to the high street under The Range’s ownership, and Wilko brand items are stocked in The Range stores.
Both M&Co And Joule are among the well-known brands that went bankrupt in 2022.
Paperchase subsequently collapsed into administration at the end of January last year and all 106 stores later closed for good.
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 said it will close almost half of its 198 stores after going into administration.
The iconic beauty retailer has confirmed to The Sun that seven branches will close with immediate effect.
The full list of stores closed so far:
- Surrey Quays, London
- Oxford Street Bond Street, London
- Canary Wharf, London
- Cheapside, London
- Nuneaton, Warwickshire
- Ashfordtown, Kent
- Bristol Queens Road
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.
The good news
Fortunately, some stores are bucking the trend and opening new locations.
Primark said it will open five new stores, and there will be one in a few weeks.
B&M will open six new locations in early 2024, also in former Wilko stores that it has taken over.
Beauty retailer Sephora is opening its third location in Manchester this year.
Another skincare and makeup icon, Avon, plans to open stores in Britain for the first time in its more than 100-year history.
Costco plans to open 14 new locations in Britain over the next two years, while Greggs will add 160 locations this year.
See the full list of shops opening on the high street in our tour.