4 days ago
Full list of Hobbycraft stores to shut after major retail chain confirms NINE more closures as big sales launched
HOBBYCRAFT shoppers are bracing for yet another blow as the major arts and crafts chain confirms NINE more store closures.
The major retail chain has confirmed the closures as part of a restructuring effort, with big sales launched at branches.
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Hobbycraft has already shut more than 18 stores across the UK this year, and further closures are expected.
Some are pulling down the shutters on the stores this month and in September.
Closing down sales have been launched at some of the branches, like Wigan and Stafford, as bosses look to clear remaining stock, offering up to 20% off.
Why are they closing?
It comes after Hobbycraft launched a strategic review of the business in May to look at balancing its books.
As part of this review, it closed nine loss-making stores in June, with sites in Bristol, Dunstable, Borehamwood and Basildon shutting.
Hobbycraft said the restructuring plan will secure the future of at least 99 stores and 1,800 jobs.
Bosses are also negotiating rents with landlords at a number of other branches.
Alex Wilson, Hobbycraft's chief executive officer, said: "Very sadly, the strength of our offering has not made us immune from the challenges faced by the retail sector in recent years.
"Closing stores is always a last resort and this has been an extremely difficult decision.
"Making these changes is sadly a necessary action to enable us to keep our doors open to crafters up and down the country.'
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Full list of branches shutting down:
Here is a full list of Hobbycraft branches announced so far that are closing down for good and when.
Bromborough: August 4
Stratford-upon-Avon: August 6
Southport: August 7
Stafford: September
Wigan: early September
Maidenhead: September
King's Lynn: September
Chichester: September
Crayford: September
Locals and customers affected by the closures can find their nearest branch here by using Hobbycraft's store locator.
Other store closures
The high street has suffered in recent years, with a number of major chains and independent retailers closing shops.
Shoppers are heading online more to get their weekly bits, while some chains have shifted towards opening new branches in retail parks outside of town and city centres and closing high street sites.
Poundland, which was bought out by investment firm Pepco in June, is shutting 49 branches this month, with plans to shut a total of 68 by mid-October.
River Island also had plans to shut 33 branches approved by the High Court as it looks to balance its books.
The Original Factory Shop is also closing branches next month as it goes through a restructuring.
Footasylum operated out of around 60 stores at the start of 2025, but has already shut several locations across the country since the start of the year.
GAME - which operates around 240 stores across the UK - has slashed the prices of some of its products by up to 20 per cent across the closing outlets.
The retailing giant announced the closure of six of its stores across the UK in August and September, including outlets in Eldon Square in Newcastle and at Galleries Shopping Centre in Bristol.
Jewellery chain Claire's has collapsed into administration and stopped its online orders for customers.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
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."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has 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."
