Britain's biggest toy chain with over 160 UK stores to close town centre site for good TODAY

The Sun

03-05-2025

A MAJOR UK toy chain is closing the doors to one its town centre stores for the last time today.
The Entertainer is ceasing operation of its outlet in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria from today.
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The store has been one of The Entertainers more than 160 stores in the UK, which took over from an Argos eight years ago.
Staff and customers have expressed their disappointment in the stores closure.
Keith Stenhouse, Head of Region at The Entertainer, shared his regret: "We are sad to be closing our Barrow in Furness store as of 3rd May and would like to thank our customers and staff for their loyalty and support.
"We're proud of the service we've offered and are committed to supporting our employees through this situation."
He explained that it was a necessary decision from the company to shut down standalone stores that were "no longer profitable".
This particular Entertainer store in Cumbria gained notoriety in the past due to the large donations it has made to charity, The Mail reports.
It gave away large amounts of toys to the children's ward of Furness General Hospital during Christmas the year it opened.
The company has also made large donations to local charities, and was involved in Barrow BID, a group working to revitalise the town centre.
Taking to social media, shoppers reacted to the announcement of the scores closure.
One wrote: "Staff where brilliant I wish them every bit of luck in future as they always where very interactive with the kids it's such a shame."
Aldi shoppers race to the Middle Aisle to grab kid's toys
Another added: "It's a shame I always go here with grandson."
A third also posted: "It's such a shame it's a lovely shop for the kiddies and it's in town which is so important."
John Edwards, who managed the store for a number of years, also expressed he was "incredibly sad" to see its closure, calling the site an "asset" to the community.
John added: "It was always important to me it wasn't just a shop, it had to be an experience and be somewhere kids were excited to go - it's a huge shame to lose that."
This closure is among a number of stores that have been shuttered by The Entertainer in the past six months.
Other include outlets in Cameron Toll, Edinburgh, and Croydon, south London.
In January, its branch in Luton Point shopping centre shut for good, much to the dismay of the loca community.
Andrew Murphy OBE, group chief executive at The Entertainer, explained the store had closed after its lease agreement came to an end.
Speaking at the time of the closure, he said: "Like most large national retailers, we continuously assess potential new locations while deciding whether to renew those shops which have reached the end of their lease arrangements."
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."