Major charity shop chain to shut another store ahead of 47 more closing for good

Scottish Sun

25-04-2025

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A MAJOR charity shop chain has revealed it will shut down another store ahead of 47 more closing for good.
Its branch in Kendal is due to close later this year, after its branch in neighbouring Workington closed earlier this year.
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Scope is closing down a number of stores
Credit: Alamy
That leaves just one Scope branch in Cumbria in Windermere, which will remain open.
The news has come as a blow to locals, who moaned: "It says something when the charity shops are failing."
While another shopper cried: "Another closed shop on our main street, such a shame."
Debbie Boylen, head of retail at disability equality charity Scope, said: "Our charity shop in Windermere remains profitable and will continue to trade.
"We're very sad to confirm, our charity shop in Kendal will be closing, with the date is to be confirmed. "
She added: "Our Workington charity shop closed in March 2025. We've had such incredible support from the wonderful and generous communities. We never take the decision to close our stores lightly. "
Scope, a disability charity in England and Wales, warned back in January that it could close a number of its 138 stores.
At the time, the charity's bosses said the decision was being considered in the face of declining footfall on high streets and spiralling costs.
Chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said external factors had 'made trading harder'.
The chain has faced rising rents, soaring energy costs, increased staff costs and the cost of living squeezing customers.
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It comes as the charity has already closed four locations this month across Newport, Southampton, Atherstone and Welling.
Five stores will also be closing down in May, with the locations yet to be revealed.
This is on top of 18 closures made in March, which are listed below:
Amersham
Barking
Bangor
Birkenhead
Bishop Auckland
Castleford
Devizes
Dewsbury
Eastbourne
Haywards Heath
Lewisham
New Milton
Orpington
Parkstone
Scunthorpe
Shirley (Southampton)
Skipton
Workington
These are the six shops that closed during the consultation period:
Bexhill
Hertford
Mitcham
Petersfield
Scarborough
Worthing
TROUBLE ON THE HIGH STREET
Plenty of other discount and charity shops are struggling as shoppers have less cash to part with at the till.
In March, Poundland's parent company, Pepco, enlisted advisory firm Teneo to oversee the potential sale of its UK business.
The decision followed Pepco's announcement that it is exploring "all strategic options" to separate Poundland from its portfolio of brands.
The Polish-based group had hinted that it may shift its focus towards its more profitable operations across Europe.
It is gearing up to close a handful of stores this May.
The Centre for Retail Research's latest analysis suggests 13,479 stores, the equivalent of 37 each day, shut for good in 2024.
Of those, 11,341 were independent shops while 2,138 were shut by larger retailers.
The data also showed over half the stores that closed last year were shut due to the store or retailer going through insolvency proceedings.
This is when formal measures are taken to deal with tackling a business's debt.