Major high street discounter with over 850 locations apologises over closure of branch after just a year
A MAJOR high street discounter has apologised for closing a branch after it was open for just one year.
The store in Maidenhead, Berkshire will close permanently next month due to issues surrounding the lease of the building.
Poundland’s store on Maidenhead High Street had already closed temporarily earlier this week after water damage caused part of the ceiling to collapse.
Despite this being fixed, the budget retailer has confirmed that the store will shut its doors forever in mid October.
A spokesperson for the company said: “I’m afraid we’ve been unable to secure an agreement with our landlord that would enable us to keep the store trading in Maidenhead.
“We know this will be disappointing to customers and we’re sorry we’ll be closing on 18 October.
“It goes without saying we’ll be doing all we can to look after colleagues that work there.”
Poundland had moved in to the building last year after the company stepped in to take over a number of Wilko shop leases, following the latter’s collapse.
Maidenhead High Street has also seen other casualties in the losses of both its Clarks and Barclays stores.
Clarks shut its doors on the street in June this year while the Barclays branch closed for the final time in May.
Poundland had undergone an expansion last year when it took over 71 ex-Wilko stores after the retailer fell into administration.
Since then however, several have closed down, including in Ellesmere Port, Galashiels, Scotland, and the Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich.
On top of this, in August a Poundland store in south Macclesfield closed for good.
A month before that, the discounter pulled down the shutters on a store in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, after taking it on from Wilko.
Despite this, earlier this year the retailer pledged to revamp 150 stores by end of August with new signage, flooring, lighting and ranges.
It also aimed to have staff areas made over to make them better places to work.
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.