High street chain with 160 stores launches NEW closing down sales after already shutting 38 shops
Clintons, the card retailer, will close its branch in Hartlepool's Middleton Grange Shopping Centre today, August 16.
1
To shift stock before it closes for good, the chain has launched a closing down sale and has slashed prices by 30%.
The move has left shoppers heartbroken, with one sharing: "Shocking, our poor town has gone down the nick."
And another described the area as a "ghost town".
Meanwhile, a third added: "Well the town won't be worth a light!".
It comes as two more stores are set to leave the shopping centre including Holland & Barrett and River Island.
The fashion brand will exit in January as part of a major restructuring, which will see at least 33 stores close.
As for Clintons, the chain closed 38 stores in the last financial year, which resulted in 300 job losses.
The chain has also launched a closing down sale at is branch in Eldon Sqaure shopping centre in Newcastle.
But the branch is reportedly set to relocate to another area of the shopping centre in the coming months.
The Sun has contacted Clintons for comment.
Major card chain with 163 shops launches closing down sales ahead of shutting its doors for good
More recently, its Keighley, West Yorkshire store closed its doors on June 14.
And another site in Rugby Central is also due to close but an exact date is yet to be confirmed.
The chain, which was acquired by Pillarbox Designs also closed a branch in Andover in Hampshire closed in April.
Clintons revealed it returned to profit in April this year following a period of distress.
The chain made a pre-tax profit of £8million up from £5.3million pre-tax loss it posted in the previous year.
A statement from Clintons read: "The company has continued to close loss-making stores and the portfolio of retail stores is now down to approximately 170 stores.
"The high street continues to be unpredictable and the company is seeing reduced footfall in the stores year on year.
"The company continues to monitor the performance of the existing estate and to close the poor performing stores, which, whilst impacting on turnover, should improve profitability moving forwards."
It comes amid a troubling time for UK's retail sector.
Just this week, .
All outlets will remain across the UK as it mulls "the best possible path forward".
Elsewhere, River Island will close 33 stores across the UK as part of a major restructuring plan.
The plan is aimed at balancing the retailer's books and writing off its debt as it struggles to stay afloat.
Elsewhere, New Look has also closed over a dozen stores this year and its entire estate in Ireland, which consisted of 26 sites.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
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."
Professor Bamfield has also 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."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
The Lords may have some dodgy donors and clowns but it kind of works
N othing about the British state works. The civil service is too big: mired in layers of time-eating bureaucracy. The Prime Minister's Office is too small, and struggles to exert its will over that bureaucracy, often ceding power to the Treasury because at least the Treasury has enough staff to throw a spreadsheet together presenting its case. The Treasury in turn is plagued by groupthink, obsessed with the balance sheet, prone to prioritising short-term savings over investments or structural changes that will deliver future growth. Meanwhile, local government groans under the weight of too many expensive statutory responsibilities and not enough money left over to do the basics like bin collection and pothole repairs. As for the House of Commons? Every day, MPs stand up and read from their iPhones questions written by their party whips, and then shuffle through the voting lobbies only dimly aware of whether they are voting for changes to farming regulations or war with France.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Labour renews 'war on motorists' as it quietly ditches plans to limit new LTNs and 20mph zones
Labour has quietly dropped plans to limit the roll out of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph zones in what has been dubbed a 'secret war on drivers'. The reforms, which were drawn up by the Tories, would have curbed locals councils' powers to restrict traffic and impose 'unfair' fines and parking charges. Labour ministers, however, dismissed the proposals, saying they 'would have made no positive difference for drivers'. It comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has faced repeated accusations that Labour is launching a 'war on motorists' in England and Wales. Just this week, Labour-run Southwark council was forced to admit it would refund thousands of people after they were unfairly fined for driving in bus lanes. On Saturday, shadow transport secretary Richard Holden branded the decision to scrap the limits on councils' powers over traffic measures a 'secret war on drivers'. The Conservatives also raised fears that increased limits on car use would hit already struggling high streets across the UK. Mr Holden told The Telegraph: 'Labour has been caught red-handed as it steps up its targeted war on motorists. 'Conservatives led the charge against unfair and over-zealous enforcement but our work has been ripped up in underhand attacks without any public consultation or manifesto pledge. 'This is a kick in the teeth to motorists, set to punish beleaguered local high streets and will slam the brakes on the economy even more than Rachel Reeves has done so far.' Back in October 2023, Rishi Sunak announced his party would be introducing a 'Plan for Drivers' to make it harder for local authorities to implement anti-car schemes. The proposals would have forced councils to place more emphasis on the views of local residents and businesses when considering the introduction of LTNs. As a minimum, authorities would have had to hold a series of public meetings, with locals in the affected areas also made aware of the plans through leaflets. However according to the Telegraph's report, ministers have now confirmed that the plans - which were yet to be formalised - have now been shelved. Lilian Greenwood, the roads minister, said the government was considering its 'next steps' and that the work had been 'put on hold'. She added that there are no 'current plans' to change the guidance on the rolling out of 20mph speed limits in England. The minister reiterated that it was up to local authorities to decide where lower speed thresholds would be appropriate in their areas. A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'The Government is absolutely on the side of drivers, focusing on making journeys safer and smoother, and saving motorists money. 'Over the past year alone, we invested an extra £500m to help local authorities resurface roads and fix seven million potholes, reducing congestion and saving drivers up to £600 a year in repairs. 'We've also committed £1bn to repair bridges, flyovers and tunnels, and greenlit over 30 road schemes to improve journeys. 'Meanwhile, we are making our roads safer to drive on and will set out the next steps for the first road safety strategy in over a decade in due course.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ed Miliband embroiled in 'hypocrisy' row as Energy Secretary refuses to reveal how many domestic flights he has taken
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been dubbed a 'hypocrite' after refusing to reveal details concerning his domestic air travel. Ministers asserted the Doncaster North MP would not reveal information regarding flights he had taken within the UK since he joined the cabinet last June. Claire Coutinho, shadow energy secretary, said the refusal inferred there was 'one rule' for Miliband, and 'another for everyone else'. The Conservative MP previously urged Miliband to release details on his domestic UK flights since Labour's loveless landslide in the last general election. However, Michael Shanks said, on the Labour MPs behalf, that 'details of internal domestic flights are not published.' It comes as Labour significantly hiked air passenger duty, adding hundreds of pounds to British family holidays. Ms Coutinho told The Telegraph: 'As Ed Miliband sticks a holiday tax of up to £400 on a family of four, it does seem the height of hypocrisy that he won't reveal his own flights, which are funded by the taxpayer. 'People expect transparency and fairness from their politicians, but when it comes to the most stringent net zero costs, it's one rule for him and another for everyone else.' The Energy Secretary's position does align with others in Westminster departments, which do not publish 'granular' details concerning ministers travel. The Government told the publication it was 'the practice of successive administration' including Conservatives, not to release details of ministers movements. Mr Miliband, who heads the Government's net zero policies, has previously been vocal regarding his opposition to domestic flights, urging Brits to cut down on them. While he was Shadow Business Secretary, he called for the last Government to encourage Brits to travel by train and buses rather than taking to the skies. When queried on if domestic flights he should be banned, he said they shouldn't be banished 'completely, but as much as we possible can.' In 2021, he told the BBC: 'Fairness and giving people alternatives is an absolutely key part of making this transition happen.' Last April, it was revealed his department has spent £44,000 more than the Conservative ministers on domestic air travel between last July and December. In his first half-a-year in office, the Energy Secretary also spent £62,712 on international travel, the Taxpayers' Alliance reported. His Conservative predecessor, Ms Coutinho spent £6,155 in her first six-months in the role, according to The Telegraph. It comes after one of the government's climate advisers was accused of 'rank hypocrisy' after they reportedly racked up 40,000 air miles in a year by jetting to environmental conferences Nigel Topping is one of six members of the Climate Change Committee, which advises Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In February, the committee backed a 'frequent flier levy' to help reach Net Zero. This would see Britons who take the most flights, or fly the furthest distances, taxed more. According to The Telegraph, Mr Topping attended conferences in Barbados, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Netherlands and the US in the last 12 months. An analysis by the newspaper claimed he accrued 11 times more air miles in the last year than the average Briton. It also claimed that Mr Topping's carbon footprint from flights alone was about 40 per cent more than the average Briton produces in total in a year. Mr Miliband himself was also criticised after it was revealed he had notched up at least 44,600 air miles since he became Energy Secretary last July. It meant he was responsible for at least 54.2 tons of carbon emissions in nine months – more than 12 times the annual emissions of the average Briton. The Daily Mail has approached Ed Miliband, the Labour Party
