Major supermarket chain with 900 branches to shut only store in a city following string of closures

Scottish Sun

08-05-2025

Shoppers fume over parking fines as supermarket giant pulls the plug on city store
CLOSING TIME Major supermarket chain with 900 branches to shut only store in a city following string of closures
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A MAJOR supermarket with around 900 branches across the UK is set to shut its only store in a city, marking the latest in a string of closures.
Iceland has confirmed it will close its Inverness city centre supermarket at Rose Street Retail Park on July 12, shifting its focus to The Food Warehouse at Telford Retail Park.
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As July approaches, regular customers at the Rose Street store will be making their final visits
Credit: Getty
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Iceland is best known for its frozen food range
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
The frozen food giant has been a long-time fixture at Rose Street, trading alongside Smyth's toy superstore, Home Bargains, and Starbucks.
According to The Inverness Courier, the decision to close the store comes as Iceland concentrates on expanding its warehouse-style outlets, including the newer Telford Street site that opened in November 2022 with free parking.
But the Inverness store hasn't been without problems.
Customers have complained about parking charges and fines issued by a third-party car park operator, with even disabled shoppers among those hit by penalties, Press and Journal reports.
These parking concerns have been a sore point for many local shoppers, who say they've been put off returning to the store.
A spokesperson for Iceland said: 'We can confirm our Iceland store located at Rose Street, Inverness, is scheduled to close on July 12th 2025.
"Our store colleagues will enter into a consultation process and will be offered opportunities at surrounding stores where possible.
"Shoppers can visit our local Food Warehouse store in Inverness located on Telford Street.'
The closure means customers will now be directed to The Food Warehouse, which is a larger format store offering a broader selection of products, bulk deals, and the convenience of free parking.
Many shoppers have already made the switch since the Telford Retail Park store opened, drawn by the easier access and larger range.
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Iceland is best known for its frozen food range and exclusive products such as Cathedral City, Greggs, TGI Friday's, and My Protein.
It has also made major investments in its delivery services, now available through its own website as well as platforms like Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Amazon, aiming to reach customers who prefer to shop from home.
The closure in Inverness is part of a broader reshuffle across Iceland's UK operations, as the supermarket chain adapts to shifting consumer habits, cost pressures, and the growing demand for convenience and online shopping.
Other retailers have also been facing similar challenges, with many high street stores shutting or relocating to out-of-town retail parks.
For Inverness, the loss of a city centre supermarket is another blow, following the departure of several other big names in recent years.
Shoppers, especially those without cars, may now find it harder to access affordable groceries within walking distance.
Despite the closure, Iceland says it remains committed to serving the local community through The Food Warehouse and its delivery services.
The company also reassured staff that they will be offered opportunities at other nearby stores wherever possible.
As July approaches, regular customers at the Rose Street store will be making their final visits, marking the end of an era for the supermarket in the city centre.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.