
Poundland launches major 70% off sale ahead of closure of beloved store as 200 could shut for good
Its branch in Barrow in Furness is set to close on June 12, giving customers just two days to say their goodbyes.
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To help shift stock before it closes for good, the retailer has launched a 70% sale to shift stock.
One shopper shared the find on social media and managed to pick up a garlic masher for 12p and a wine and beer glasses for 25p a pop.
They also picked up a USB charger for 37p.
Another shopper said they had also visited the closings store and "picked up loads" in the sale.
It comes just eight months after the affordable store shut another branch in the area.
Its site at Hindpool Retail Park closed last autumn, in another blow to shoppers.
The news has came as a blow to locals, with one even describing it as their "second home".
A Poundland spokesperson previously told The Sun that the store is closing because it has been unable to agree terms that would allow the brand to keep trading there.
The store still has 800 stores trading across the UK.
It comes as Poundland could undergo a radical restructuring plan to help keep the business afloat.
Poundland to be sold for JUST £1 as frontrunner for shock takeover is revealed after wave of store closures
Up to 200 stores could close and hundreds of stores have been identified for steep rent cuts, according to reports.
The retailer was put up for sale in March, with ex-Laura Ashley owner Gordon Brothers and Hilco named as frontrunners in the race.
Last month, sources told The Sunday Times the budget business could be priced at "effectively a pound".
It's owner Pepco said it expects the sale of Poundland by September.
The brand has already closed a number of stores in the past year.
That includes stores across Gravesend's St George's Centre, Clapham Junction station in London.
Liverpool's Belle Vale Shopping Centre also pulled down their shutters for the final time.
This is the full list of stores that have closed, or are set to close in the coming months:
Connswater Shopping Centre, Belfast – closed March 2024
Macclesfield – closed August, 2024
Maidenhead – closed October, 2024
Sutton Coldfield – closed October, 2024
Clapham Junction Station, London – closed May 2
Belle Vale Shopping Centre, Liverpool – closed May 6
St George's Centre, Gravesend – closed May 8
Southwark Park Road – closed May 14
Copdock Mill Interchange, Ipswich – closed May 20
Brackla, Wales – closed May 24
Chiswick High Road – closed May 28
Filton Abbeywood – closed May 31
Surrey Quays – closing June 11
Barrow Dalton Road - closing June 12
Union Gate, Bristol - closing June 20
Flint - closing June 21
Cowes, Isle of Wight – closing July (exact date tbc)
Newquay, August 1
OTHER RETAIL CLOSURES
Poundland is not the only retailer facing troubling times.
Hobbycraft is set to close nine stores on June 21, as part of an overhaul by new owner Modella Capital.
Sites across Bristol, Dunstable, Borehamwood and Basildon are all set to close.
A further two sites in Essex and one in Gloucestershire are also set to close, with a site in Kent closing earlier this year.
Elsewhere, up to 11 Original Factory Shops stores are to set to close this month, including sites across Worcestershire, Durham and Cumbria.
Meanwhile, another five stores across Nairn, Market Drayton, Troon, Blairgowrie and Castle Douglas have been put up for sale.
It comes as part of a major restructuring carried out by new owner Modella Capital with a number of loss-making stores having to close as result.
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."
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Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Britain's most targeted shop: Robbed, set on fire, ripped off and forced to tackle thieves herself. The luxury boutique owner who refuses to shut after astonishing crime wave
Preyed upon by fraudsters, rocked by Hollywood-style heists and nearly blown up by a petrol bomb - this is the luxury handbag store fighting for survival in Cheshire's Golden Triangle. Christine Colbert, 58, has suffered a series of 'catastrophic' setbacks which have routinely threatened to destroy Dress Cheshire, the beloved boutique she set up in the celebrity enclave of Prestbury back in November 2018. In the last five years, she has fallen victim to the notorious 'Kardashian of Cheshire' handbag fraudster, lost £430,000 worth of stock in two separate heists and suffered £10,000 in damage when the building next door was blown up by arsonists. On one occasion, she even had to take matters into her own hands by wrestling a shoplifter to the ground after they stuffed one of her Louis Vuitton handbags in an Aldi bag before brazenly walking out the front door. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Ms Colbert said: 'I have felt like a target, a massive target. It's made me very anxious and more nervous... I've had some very, very dark days.' She added: 'As a business, we've been rocked absolutely to the core through all of these unfortunate events. We're not sitting there feeling sorry for ourselves, but it's just been catastrophic. You couldn't write it.' Dress Cheshire suffered its first major burglary in March 2024 when four men scaled the back of the building, ripped out a window and drained the company of £180,000 worth of handbags in a terrifying heist. In the same month, she turned 'Miss Marple' to help bring down Jack Watkin, the self-proclaimed 'rich kid of Instagram' who conned victims including Ms Colbert out of thousands of pounds in an elaborate designer handbag scam. Watkin, who befriended Ms Colbert in September 2020 and became a regular visitor to her shop, defrauded her out of £44,000. The scammer, who described himself as the 'Kardashian of Cheshire', persuaded people to invest huge sums - which he claimed was to buy and sell luxury handbags - but stole the money to fund his millionaire lifestyle. Luxury handbag seller's five years of hell 2020: Christine Colbert is befriended by Jack Watkin, a man who would go on to defraud her and others out of tens of thousands of pounds. March 2024: Dress Cheshire suffers its first major burglary as four men scale the back of the building and take £180,000 worth of handbags and stock. March 2024: Ms Colbert turns 'Miss Marple' to help bring down Watkin, luring him into a trap before police arrest him. August 2024: The building next door to Dress Cheshire is blown up in an arson attack, leading to £10,000 in damage to her shop. June 2025: Dress Cheshire suffers a second major burglary. This time £250k worth of handbags are stolen after thieves tunnelled their way in. 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On June 8 this year, she was forced to watch a group of brazen thieves steal £250,000 worth of luxury handbags after tunneling through her shop. Three intruders circumvented Dress Cheshire's sophisticated security set-up by identifying the 3ft wide chimney stack as a weakness. Having smashed their way through, one used a duvet cover as a giant pouch to steal the highly sought-after pre-owned bags from brands including Chanel, Gucci, Dior, and Louis Vuitton. Live CCTV footage showed the skilled thieves ransacking the shop, where bags valued at as much as £30,000 were snatched. The second heist coincided with the start of Watkin's trial in June. Ms Colbert said: 'I knew June was going to be a horrendous month. I didn't anticipate the heist, who could. 'Because of the arson next door, that led to the heist because that building has been unoccupied since then and boarded up. So they took advantage of that situation and were going in and out.' When asked if she feels like the unluckiest business owner in Britain, she said: 'Well, yes and no. My cup's always half full... but I feel like I've definitely had my share of bad luck and it has been horrible. 'Throughout all of the frauds and the robberies, nobody really knew that I was dealing with Jack.' She added: 'Don't get me wrong, I think any one of those things could topple someone completely, and just have them thinking, I don't need this. But then also they're not going to knock me over. Absolutely no chance. 'Why would I allow these horrible individuals of all different categories that they are try and topple me, but don't get me wrong, I have felt like a massive target. 'We're a small business, we're not a big multi-million pound business. I've lost my own personal money here and people don't see that. 'I'm a northern girl. I don't come from a wealthy family. I just come from Northern grit. You just pick yourself up, dust yourself down and crack on. That's what my parents told me to do and that's what I've done.' In between the major heists and sickening fraud from a 'friend', Ms Colbert has also faced a terrifying credit scam from fraudsters posing as customers in her shop. Explaining how it works, she told the Mail: 'We've had people in trying to intercept our payment gateways. They literally try and keep us preoccupied whilst they make fraudulent payments in our card terminals. 'They blatantly walk in, they say they're going to buy a £5,000 bag, and then they try and use the machine for their own gain, and so not only steal the bag, but steal my money and empty my bank account at the same time.' She explained how they usually operate in pairs, with one talking to her and the other 'punching in' numbers to the card machine. 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Along with Wilmslow and Alderley Edge, Prestbury makes up the so-called Golden Triangle of towns favoured by Cheshire celebrities and sports stars. Ex-Manchester United star Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen used to live there until they moved to a £20million home they designed nearby. However the area has been frequently targeted by burglars including a gang who snatched more than 100 rare handbags worth over £1million when they raided a home in Alderley Edge in March.


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