UP to 20 WHSmith stores are set to close in the coming weeks, ahead of 500 high street stores being sold.
The high street newsagent is set to close another store, after confirming that 18 sites will cease trading in the coming months.
Just yesterday, it was confirmed its branch in Doncaster would shut up shop one last time on May 31.
It marks the end of a 57-year stint on the North Yorkshire high street, having first opened in the Frenchgate shopping centre back in 1968.
On the latest closure, WHSmith told local news media: “We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Doncaster will be closing in May.
“It is no longer sustainable to continue to trade from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.
This comes on top of a string of closures made by the British business since the start of the year.
Branches in Bournemouth, Luton and Cambridgeshire have already been shut.
Meanwhile, sites in Woolwich, Newport and Suffolk are getting ready to stop serving customers in April.
The full list of store closures include:
- Bournemouth Old Christchurch Road, Dorset – January 18
- Luton, Bedfordshire – January 18
- March, Cambridgeshire – January 25
- Basingstoke, Hampshire – February 1
- Long Eaton – February 1
- Newtown, Powys – February 15
- Winton branch in Bournemouth, Dorset – February 15
- Rhyl, Denbighshire – February 15
- Bolton, Greater Manchester – February
- Accrington, Lancashire – March 15
- Halstead, Essex – April
- Halesowen, West Midlands – April
- Diss, Norfolk – April
- Newport, Wales – April
- Haverhill, Suffolk – April 26
- Woolwich – April
- Stockton, County Durham – May
- Oldham, Greater Manchester – May
- West Mall, Frenchgate Centre Doncaster – May 31
- Orpington, Greater London – no date given yet
It comes as the 232 year-old British business has put its entire high street estate up for sale as it turns its focus to its more lucrative travel arm.
Earlier this year, it was found that the retailer is working with advisers at Greenhill Investment Boutique to handle the sale, hoping to reach a deal within three months.
The Sun revealed Doug Putman, the owner of HMV is in discussions with WHSmith advisers about possibly buying the 500 stores.
A takeover of WHSmith’s stores by HMV could see a return to more records and CDs sold in WHSmith shops and a potential cross-over between the two brands.
But he will have to fend off competition from other bidders including restructuring firms Alteri and Hilco.
A WHSmith spokeswoman previously told The Sun the retail group was “exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash generative part of the group, including a possible sale”.
However, the statement added: “There can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached, and further updates will be provided as and when appropriate.”
TROUBLE ON THE HIGH STREET
Once seemingly resilient stores are buckling under the pressure of shoppers having less money to spend and the rise in online retailing.
Last week, The Sun revealed Select Fashion was on the verge of collapse as it boarded up 35 of its affordable clothing stores.
New Look is ramping up a store closure programme ahead of April’s National Insurance hike.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer’s 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
This equates to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on its 8,000-strong workforce.
Elsewhere, Pepco Group, the owner of Poundland stores in the UK, has hired hired advisory firm Teneo to oversee the sale of the business.
It comes after Pepco said it was looking at “all strategic options” to separate Poundland from its brand.
The Polish group said it might turn its focus to its more profitable businesses in Europe.
The move has sparked fears over the future of Poundland’s 800 stores across Britain.
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.”
