UK shopping centre to get huge transformation after closing iconic store for good
A SOUTHEND shopping centre is getting a new lease of life as a popular store prepares to set up shop.
The move comes five years after Primark closed it’s doors at the exact same location.
Residents of Southend-on-Sea shared their excitement over the new development, reports Southend Echo.
Furniture outlet Dunelm is currently preparing to move into the former Primark location at Royals Shopping Centre.
The chain operates 200 stores across the UK, including one in Lakeside Shopping Centre in Grays.
But soon Southend residents will be spared the almost two-hour round trip.
“I’m really excited. I go to the Dunelm in Lakeside, this is very convenient for me,” Beverley Burns, who is originally from Scotland, told the Southend Echo.
The 39-year-old explained that she lives near the Southend shopping centre and had felt the impact when Primark packed up shop and moved further down the high street in 2020.
She also shared her hopes that the Dunelm move might inspire other outlets to move to the town.
“It was a big empty hole in Royals before, I hope it will attract more big businesses. I hope one will move into Debenhams,” Beverly said.
“I get lots of stuff out of Dunelm, it’s really good and reasonably priced.
“We are really excited it’s moving in, we are doing Bailey’s bedroom next, it saves me a drive to Lakeside.”
Dominique Goddard, 50, was another Southend shopper who was pleased by the update.
“It’s really good it’s Dunelm, it will be good for the city. It will give people a reason to come into the town,” she said.
“It saves me having to travel to Lakeside, it will keep more people in the city.
“The whole of the Royals has felt a bit empty for a while, it needed some big names. Hopefully, it will bring more people to this end of the High Street.”
Signage showing Dunelm’s logo has already been added to the exterior of Royals.
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.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
Andrew Stanton, 58, from Rayleigh, also spoke to Southend Echo about the recent development.
“I go the Dunelm at Mayflower Retail Park in Basildon, I’m a big supporter of this new store,” he said.
“I’m more likely to come to the Royals because of this. With the loss of Debenhams, there was a no reason to come into Southend, this will help a lot.”
Southend Echo also reported that work could be seen taking place in the shop’s interior.
And Dunelm isn’t the only British retailer expanding as B&M have announced the locations of 29 more stores.