IT has been a difficult year so far for retail and that trend is set to continue as more shops will shut their doors in March.
Shoppers have watched as many of their favourite chains have abandoned the high street in recent years.
Major retailers, including Greggs and New Look, are leaving the high street[/caption]
With changes to employment costs set to come into force in April it seems unlikely that this year will be any different.
Several major retailers have warned that the increase to employer National Insurance rates and minimum wage will force them to put up prices and abandon plans for expansion.
The British Retail Consortium has estimated that the Treasury’s hike in employer National Insurance Contributions from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
The increases come at a time when the high street is already struggling.
Major shops have recorded months of reduced footfall and have seen less money land in their tills due to the cost of living crisis.
As costs have risen customers have been forced to cut back their retail spending.
Meanwhile, increases in rent and bills have forced several chains to restructure and close locations.
This year has already seen some high profile names including Monki and The Entertainer close stores.
Other retailers may shut shops as they have a similar store nearby that is performing better or they may want to move to a location where they will have a higher footfall.
Here are all the shops we know are closing stores in March 2025.
Trespass
Trespass will close its store at Highcross shopping centre, Leicester, for good on March 31.
It is not known why the shop is shutting.
The store has launched a closing-down sale with items on offer for up to 60% off.
The news comes just weeks after Trespass announced its branch at the Hillstree Shopping Centre, Middlesbrough, would shut.
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.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, 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.
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.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko 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.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
Yellow and black signs which read “everything must go” have been posted on the store’s windows.
The Middlesborough store was opened less than two years ago.
The outdoor clothing specialist, which has 300 stores, announced it would axe six sites from its estate in July 2023.
The closure of branches in Norwich and Sutton Coldfield followed.
New Look
Fashion chain New Look will close several of its stores this month as it significantly reduces its store footprint.
The popular fashion chain will close its branch at the Team Valley Retail World in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, on March 9.
Its St Austell store in Cornwall will close on March 4.
The chain has already shut stores in the Carillon Court Shopping Centre in Loughborough, Essex, and Porth in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The news comes after reports emerged that the fashion retailer is accelerating plans to close nearly 100 stores, following challenges linked to the tax changes announced in the Autumn Budget.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer’s 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
This is equal to about 91 stores, which will have a significant impact on its 8,000 strong workforce.
New Look has also announced that it is winding up its business in the Republic of Ireland.
The fashion chain has 26 stores in the republic and employs 347 people, of whom 32 are full-time.
WHSmith
WHSmith is set to close a store in Accrington, Lancashire on March 15.
The popular store is set to shut due to its lease expiring.
WHSmith has already shut stores in Bolton, Bournemouth and Boscombe in recent weeks.
The company said it was disappointed to be pulling out of Bolton town centre.
The popular store shut due to redevelopment plans, according to bosses.
The stationery chain has also earmarked shops in Essex, West Midlands, Norfolk, Newport and Suffolk for closure next month.
WHSmith is actively seeking to offload its high street estate in order to focus on its fast-growing travel business of shops in airports and train stations.
It has over 1,100 stores across the UK, including over 520 high street shops.
It is working with advisers at Greenhill Investment Boutique.
It is hoped that a deal can be reached within three months, according to sources.
Investors have not wanted WHSmith to spend any more money on its high street arm, which has no real growth prospects.
Scope
Disability charity Scope is considering shuttering 77 of its 138 shops.
Last month the charity’s bosses said the difficult decision is being considered in light of declining footfall on high streets and spiralling costs.
Chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said: “Despite our teams’ best efforts 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 will be putting forward proposals to close some of our shops, in stages, over the next 18 months.”
Under the proposal the first 41 shops could close by March 31.
A further 31 shops would close between April 1 and March 31, 2026.
The final phase of five more shops would close when leases came up for renewal or when there is a break.
Select Fashion
Select Fashion has begun to close a dozen stores, with the majority of shops impacted in the North East of England.
The 12 stores are set to close in February and March in the following locations:
- Merthyr Tydfil – March
- Wellingborough – March 15
- Southshields – TBC
- Peterlee – TBC
- Thornaby – TBC
- Hartlepool – TBC
- Scarborough – TBC
- Hull Hessle – TBC
- Hull St Stephens – TBC
- Ashington – TBC
- Scunthorpe – TBC
- Chippenham – TBC
It has already shuttered branches in Wolverhampton and Kidderminster in January.
The British fashion brand – which has 105 stores – fell into administration in 2019.
At the time, the retailer blamed tough high street conditions and was later bought out of administration by Genus UK Limited.
But it entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) last summer.
A CVA is a way for a company to restructure by negotiating its debts, such as cutting rent costs with landlords.
It is a common way for struggling businesses to try and stay afloat.
Chains including Caffe Nero and The Body Shop have previously entered into one.
Greggs
Bakery chain Greggs is set to pull down the shutters of one of its Cambridge stores for the last time on March 31.
The shop is set to shut as part of the Greggs estate strategy, which will see the chain open more stores this year.
It already has over 2,500 shops across the UK including 500 with franchise partners such as petrol stations.
Staff at the Cambridgeshire shop will be relocated to nearby branches where possible.
The nearest shop is located in Station Square.
The Cambridge store is not the first Greggs shop to shut this year.
A Greggs store in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, closed for good on January 18.
The branch reportedly closed due to a dispute over rent, according to the Bucks Free Press.
Meanwhile, a Greggs shop on Foleshill Road, Coventry, shut forever on January 4.
Dobbies
Dobbies garden centre has confirmed a second wave of closures across the UK.
The news comes after the gardening specialist closed 16 stores as part of a restructuring plan late last year.
Locations impacted in this round of closures include stores in Havant, Aylesbury and Northampton.
At least three more sites are now set to close over the coming months.
Its branch in Northampton will be taken over by British Garden Centres, a family-run business.
Action is expected to be completed by March.
Closure dates for the Northampton and Aylesbury stores have not yet been confirmed.
The news comes after a restructuring plan was given the go ahead by the courts in December last year.
The retailer shut a total of ten larger sites as part of the plans, with two stores confirmed to be taken over by other gardening chains.
At its peak Dobbies was the biggest garden centre operator in the UK and had up to 77 stores.
Craigdon Mountain Sports
Craigdon Mountain Sports will shutter its branch in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire at the end of March.
The outdoor shop sells footwear, snow gear, bags and accessories.
The reason for the closure is not yet known.
The independent company, which also has stores in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, has launched a huge closing down sale as it attempts to shift its remaining stock.
The business said “many” of the Inverurie store staff will be transferred to its Aberdeen site and its website remains operational.
