Latest news with #retailclosures
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Major charity retailer to close two stores in days after shutting 27 – see the full list of closures
A MAJOR charity retailer is closing two stores in days after shuttering 27 this year. Scope, which runs shops in England and Wales, is shutting branches in Exmouth and Bury on May 31. 1 Five other sites have closed this month, including in Blyth, Hove, Burton and Erdington. Scope has shut 27 stores already this year following a consultation which launched in January. Once the two in Exmouth and Bury close for good on Saturday, this will rise to a total of 29. These are the 27 stores that have closed since the start of March: Amersham Atherstone Barking Bangor Birkenhead Bishop Auckland Blyth Burton Castleford Devizes Dewsbury Eastbourne Erdington Haywards Heath Hove Lewisham New Milton Newport Orpington Parkstone Scunthorpe Shirley (Southampton) Southampton Skipton West Hampstead, London Welling Workington A further six branches have shut this year due their leases ending, however the locations of these stores have not been revealed. On top of the existing closures, Scope has said a further 35 of its stores will shut, bringing the total number of closures to 70. It has also confirmed another five shops are set to be close later this year, with a possible further two as well. This means potentially 77 Scope shops will close. The locations of these 42 stores or their closure dates are yet to be revealed. Britain's retail apocalypse: why your favourite stores KEEP closing down Debbie Boylen, head of retail at Scope, said: "We know our teams put in their very best efforts, but our shops are collectively now losing money when taking account of all of their costs. "A number make strong profits but there are loss making shops too. 'We never take the decision to close our stores lightly." Scope first launched the consultation to close dozens of its stores in January due to declining footfall and spiralling costs. Chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said external factors had "made trading harder'. He added: "This situation isn't confined to Scope. All retailers have been hit with a greater shift to online shopping. "And we are facing rising rents, soaring energy costs, increased staff costs, and the cost of living squeezing customers." Despite its challenges at high street branches, Scope's online sales have boomed in recent years. It saw online sales increase by 75% in 2023/24, up £1.2million on the year before. CHARITY RETAIL SECTOR STRUGGLES The retail sector has struggled in recent years, particular on the high street as shoppers head online to get their weekly bits. Households' budgets have also been squeezed by high inflation and soaring mortgage and rental costs. The charity retail sector is far from immune from these struggles, with bosses sounding the alarm last month. In a gloomy post in April, the Charity Retail Association's (CRA) board of directors said some of its members were reporting the "worst time for trading they have ever encountered". The CRA added some of its larger members were considering taking similar action to Scope and cutting down store estates. "There appears to be a bit of a perfect storm at the moment, with income being relatively flat, and cost pressures being almost unprecedented," they said. These cost pressures relate to an increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), the national minimum wage, rental and utility costs and waste disposal costs. In a recent survey carried out by the CRA of its members, 36% of respondents said they would look to reduce the number of paid staff on their books to tackle these increased costs. Meanwhile, 21% said they were looking at reducing store trading hours and 27%, over a quarter, stated they may have to close shops. .
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Joann to close all remaining stores in May after shuttering 255 in April. What to know.
One-third of all Joann stores closed for business permanently in April, and now the rest are set to follow suit in May. The fabric and craft retailer announced plans to close every store in February after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time within a year and selling its assets. Since then the company has gradually rolled out going-out-of-business sales, with 112 stores closing on April 28. A total of 255 locations shuttered in April, according Jo Anne McCusker, a spokesperson for GA Group, the retail liquidator that won all of Joann's chain's assets through auction in February. The retailer has not announced the remaining locations closing soon but McCusker confirmed the majority of closures will happen in May. Here's what to know. The closure of every Joann's store comes after the Hudson, Ohio-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time within a year and auctioned its remaining assets. On Feb. 22, retail liquidator GA Group and Joann's term lenders won the bidding for the company. Joann announced the closure of more than 500 stores in February though the dates of each closure have varied per location. A total of 255 locations closures occurred in April and the remaining ones are set for May. Scott Carpenter, CEO of GA Group's Retail Solutions, said GA Group has a decades-long history with Joann. Their past work includes assisting Joann in buying former competitor, House of Fabrics, in the late 1990s and helping increase the retailer's store footprints from 2006 to 2016. Carpenter said the new ownership group is planning to roll out a "multimillion-dollar retention plan" for Joann's around 19,000 employees that includes organizing job fairs and granting workers time off so they can interview for other jobs. USA TODAY is waiting to hear back from Joann about which locations are closing in May. Contributing: Gabe Hauari, Mike Snider, Fernando Cervantes Jr., Mary Walrath-Holdridge, Maria Francis and Jim Sergent This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joann to close all remaining stores in May after shuttering over 250
