AN M&S store in a major town centre is shutting up shop for good in just a few hours.
The beloved high-street store disappointed loyal customers by announcing the shock closure earlier this month.
A popular M&S store is closing in just a few hours[/caption]
The prominent Foodhall store in Wellington Street, Leeds, closes today with signs up detailing the gutting announcement.
Shoppers and locals shared their disappointment at the branch closure, though, including one who said they were “devvoed” (devastated).
Thankfully, those who can’t resist an M&S sandwich, won’t have to trek too far to get their hands on the posh provisions.
A 10 minute work from the closing site will take you to the next nearest M&S branch in Ludgate Hill.
This isn’t the first time Marks and Sparks fans have been left saddened by a closure.
The retailer closed its longstanding Crawley branch in November, with bosses blaming the closure on “changing shopping patterns”.
It also shuttered its Murrygate Dundee branch last July, with staff moved to a new superstore at Gallagher Retail Park in the city.
A further store shut at the Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill a month later.
The retailer also shut down locations in Manchester, Swindon and Birmingham between August and November last year.
In 2016, the brand announced it would scrap 100 low-performing branches.
This was part of a large-scale 10-year restructuring plan which was said to be completed by next year.
The year after it was announced branches started to close, much to the dismay of loyal customers, and by May 2018 the retailer then announced it was accelerating its plans.
It later revised these plans and said it would close 120 clothing stores by April 2024.
With a combination of inflation, energy costs, and rent prices, M&S declared a store overall would be necessary.
The company previously announced it was axing stores with low footfall on the high street and relocating to retail parks.
It also revealed plans to open 104 new “bigger and fresher” food stores and 100 Foodhall sites by 2028.
M&S isn’t the only supermarket set to shake things up, with hundreds of other retailers making changes.
Supermarket giant Co-op is currently offloading 19 “unsustainable” stores across England.
However, these branches are being sold to two retailers – Samy Limited and B&M – and will reopen under their brand names.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has 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 per cent 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.”
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.”
