Latest news with #LiverpoolONE
The Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Major chain launches closing down sale ahead of shutting two branches in DAYS
A MAJOR chain has launched closing down sales ahead of shutting two branches in days. Sports Direct is pulling down the shutters on one shop in Rhyl, North Wales and another in Liverpool in September and October. 1 The chain's store in the Liverpool ONE Shopping Centre is closing on September 29, the Liverpool Echo reports. The brand, owned by the Frasers Group, is said to be relocating to a new unit in the city's Church Street. Meanwhile, a site in Rhyl's White Rose Shopping Centre will permanently shut in October, the Daily Post reports. An exact closure date for the Rhyl branch is yet to be confirmed. Both stores have reportedly launched closing down sales, with up to 20% off stock. One Rhyl local has set up a petition calling for Sports Direct bosses to keep the town's branch open. It reads: "Rhyl, with its vibrant community and rich sporting culture, relies heavily on Sports Direct for affordable, quality sportswear and equipment. "It supports local individuals and visitors to Rhyl who participate in various sporting activities, contributing positively to the health and vitality of our community." "Sports Direct's presence in Rhyl also means contributing to the local economy beyond just payroll. "It draws people into the town centre, benefiting other businesses and promoting a bustling, lively shopping environment. Britain's retail apocalypse: why your favourite stores KEEP closing down "We urge the people involved to reconsider this closure." It comes after a Sports Direct branch in Cambridge shut down in April, after launching a huge closing down sale. One frustrated shopper branded the closure "another nail in the coffin" for the city. Sports Direct also pulled the plug on its Central Six Retail Park store in Coventry at the end of January. Last year, its branches in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and on Octagon Parade in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, also shut permanently. The Sun asked Frasers Group to comment. HIGH STREET WOES The retail sector has struggled since the onset of online shopping and the coronavirus pandemic. Higher inflation since 2022 has also hit shoppers' budgets. The Centre for Retail Research has said the sector has been going through a "permacrisis" since the 2008 financial crash. Figures from the Centre also show 34 retail companies operating multiple stores stopped trading in 2024, leading to the closure of 7,537 shops. In June, Polish owner Pepco Group sold Poundland to US investment firm Gordon Brothers for £1 after a downturn in trading. The new owners are currently going through the process of shutting up to 68 stores and negotiate lower rents on others. Both Hobbycraft and The Original Factory Shop are also currently shutting branches as part of restructuring efforts. 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." .
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Shoppers camp overnight ahead of Sephora's Liverpool store opening
More than 100 people have camped overnight outside Liverpool's new Sephora person in the queue told the BBC those near the front joined the queue at about 9pm on 21 May with the store due to open at 9am. Make-up store Sephora was previously only an international brand, but has branched out to the UK with stores in Manchester and London. Sephora has promised the first 500 customers through its doors will get a free gift. The new store occupies a 6,727 sq ft (2,050 sq m) space formerly occupied by the shoe and sportswear brand Footlocker on South John month similar early morning queues formed when Uniqlo opened up in Liverpool ONE. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
UK's Landsec's property valuations miss expectations, bets on retail growth
BENGALURU: Land Securities ' overall annual property valuations slightly missed expectations on Friday, and the British commercial landlord said it plans to invest more in retail properties as store chains are expanding in premium locations. The company has been shedding non-core assets as growth in office space remains weaker in comparison to retail and residential counterparts after the pandemic. CEO Mark Allan called the company's retail segment the "strongest performing part" of its portfolio, and said he expects the firm to benefit from retailers renting space in premium shopping centres and malls. "Retailers have to be in locations where consumers are spending money and that's what's driving the trend for fewer, better, bigger stores in the very best locations that has been underway for some time now," Allan said in a media call. Landsec plans to invest more in its retail and residential property assets over the next few years, and recently acquired one of the UK's premier shopping centres, Liverpool ONE. Landsec's EPRA net tangible assets - an industry measure that represents the value of its buildings - stood at 874 pence per share as of the end of March, below expectations of 890 pence, as per a company-compiled poll. Its shares were down 1.7% by 0849 GMT. Analysts at JPMorgan said that while the company is growing, the brokerage expects some low single digit percentage adjustments down in market expectations for fiscal 2026 following the small miss in property valuations. Landsec expects rental values for office properties to continue to grow at a broadly similar rate this year as they did last, citing "modest" supply across London. Pre-tax profit for the year ended March 31 came to 393 million pounds ($523.8 million), compared to a loss of 341 million pounds last year.
