Major retailer to close another four branches TOMORROW as 12 shut for good
A MAJOR retailer is closing four branches tomorrow as part of a restructuring plan.
Garden centre chain Dobbies announced in September a number of locations would shut, subject to court approval.
Bosses were given the green light earlier this month to go ahead with the closures.
A total of 10 sites were earmarked for closure, with an eleventh in Antrim, Northern Ireland, originally set to shut saved.
Discussions with landlords over rent reductions meant two additional garden centres in Morpeth and Stapleton will be moved to other operators.
In a statement, the firm said the move will enable Dobbies to return to “sustainable profitability and unlock access to “future investment”.
In November, Dobbies shut six of its smaller format Little Dobbies locations.
By the end of tomorrow, 10 further locations will have closed.
Garden centres in Altrincham, Harleston Heath and Gosforth have already shuttered. Tomorrow, these four will permanently close:
- Reading
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- Inverness
- Huntingdon
Sales have been launched at the Dobbies garden centres in Reading, Stratford-upon-Avon and Huntingdon, with big deals to be had.
Bargain hunters recently shared pictures online of the huge discounts on offer including 70% off homeware as well as deals on plants, garden equipment, toys, gifts and Christmas decorations.
One posted pictures of shelves of discounted items and said: “Lots of sale items in Dobbies Garden Centre!”
Another added: “50% of almost everything.”
TROUBLE FOR DIY AND GARDEN STORES
High inflation coupled with a squeeze on shoppers’ finances has meant people have less money to spend in the shops.
Garden centres and home improvement businesses also boomed during the pandemic when customers were stuck at home.
But customers have been forced to cut back on spending since due to high inflation and a national cash crunch.
This has led to prominent chains going bust.
Late last month, Homebase said it would put 74 sites up for sale after it crashed into administration.
However, its administrators were able to strike a deal to sell the business to retail group CDS, which owns bargain chains The Range and Wilko.
This secured the jobs of 1,600 employees and 70 stores – all of which are set to be rebranded as The Range shops.
It’s not just DIY retailers that have struggled across the high street.
Carpetright filed for administration in July, although rival company Tapi stepped in to save 54 stores from closure and furniture giant Bensons for Beds snapped up 19.
Iconic names Ted Baker and The Body Shop both collapsed into administration this year too.
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.
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