Full list of high street store closures this month including Tesco and M&S
At least a dozen high street stores will close in the coming weeks in a blow to shoppers across the UK. It follows weeks of closures in July, which saw 10 shops shut, including Co-op, Poundland and Robert Dyas.
Many high street favourites have been forced to close in the wake of the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis, resulting in households cutting back on their spending.
Some have been hit with high rents, which, combined with lower footfall, has forced them out of business. According to the Centre for Retail Research, almost 10,500 shops closed in 2023.
The trend has continued this year with multiple chains falling victim to the challenging retail industry – approximately 804 stores closed and 16,565 retail jobs were lost during the first five months of this year.
These are all the shops that will lock their doors for good this August. Is your local high street affected?
Clinton Cards
The card and gift retailer was founded in 1968 when its first store opened in Epping, Essex. Clintons once had 335 stores across the UK, but this has since been reduced to just 225.
This month the chain will bid farewell to another two branches in Bexhill town centre and a second at the Castlepoint shopping centre in Bournemouth.
Shoppers who frequent the store in Bexhill, East Sussex will see the store close for good this Sunday, August 4.
Castlepoint shoppers will see the branch close in Bournemouth the following week on Sunday, August 11. It marks a double-whammy closure for the Castlepoint Centre after the shopping destination lost its Robert Dyas unit on July 20.
Clinton Cards announced last year that it was considering shutting 38 stores in a bid to avoid insolvency. Half a dozen stores have already closed in Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Hinckley, Kettering and Northamptonshire.
Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer has closed several stores this year as part of plans to transform its store portfolio. The retailer’s new sites will see the old store formats, which sell food, homeware and clothing, replaced with market-style Foodhalls.
One of the old stores expected to close this month is the site at the Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill, Surrey. Shoppers will see the branch close on Saturday, August 17 after 33 years of trade.
The new Foodhalls feature displays of M&S Select Farms produce and a show-stopping bakery of daily-baked bread and pastries. In total, the chain has said it wants to close 67 “lower productivity” sites between 2022 and 2027.
Tesco
Tesco will pull down the shutters on its superstore in Chippenham on August 15. The supermarket giant described its decision to close the store as “difficult”.
However, it’s not all bad news as smaller premises in Chippenham town centre will be turned into a Tesco Express. The new Express store will take up a former Wilko site left empty when the homeware chain went into administration last year.
Despite the closure of the Tesco superstore, the retailer is pursuing a strategy of expansion with plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year.
Wickes
The DIY chain will close its store in Moore Street, Sheffield, on August 16. Wickes has 230 branches and has had a presence in the city for three decades.
This closure follows another at a Wickes branch in Bristol, though the chain has not announced wider closures.
RSPCA
The animal charity will bid farewell to one of its 2017 shops at the end of the month. Those local to the Abbey End store in Kenilworth will see the branch close on August 31.
It appears to be an isolated closure which has been forced due to soaring rental prices on the property. A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: “We were unable to commit to the ten-year lease with the proposed £3,000 a year increase in rent cost.”
The latest closure is understood to be a one-off because of leasing issues and is not part of a wider issue that could lead to other shop closures.
