High street shop loved by parents with over 160 stores to close another location ‘with great sadness’
A POPULAR high street shop with over 160 stores loved by parents has announced the closure of another location.
Major toy chain The Entertainer is set to pull down the shutters of one of its branches located in a popular Bristol shopping centre.
The toy shop has been a family favourite within The Galleries Shopping Centre for several years.
But amid a string of recent closures, Nick Hargreaves, Chief Operations Officer at The Entertainer, confirmed the shutting down of the Bristol store.
He said: “Due to the planned redevelopment of The Galleries shopping centre, it is with great sadness that we have to announce the closure of our store within the centre, which has been part of the local community for several years.
“We would like to thank our staff for their incredible service through the years and of course our customers for their loyalty.
“We’re working closely with our Galleries store team to look at opportunities for them elsewhere in the business”.
He added that The Entertainer still has three stores close to The Galleries for local shoppers to visit, including Cabot Circus, Cribbs Causeway, and Keynsham.
“The teams in-store will be delighted to welcome new faces,” he added, while also stating that shoppers will still be able to purchase products via the Toy Shop website.
“Our mission is simple: to become the best-loved toyshop – one child, one community at a time and we’re very proud of the contribution that our store at The Galleries made in fulfilling that ambition over the years,” he said.
It comes just days after the store announced they would be closing another one of its town centre branches, with locals left devastated.
The Entertainer store in Bishops Weald House, off Worthing Road in Horsham, is expected to close early next year.
The closest stores for those in Horsham are now Crawley & Haywards Heath.
But it’s not just toy stores that have been hit hard, many high street retailers have been struggling to stay afloat over the past few years, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the same time the cost of living has been rising, leading to shoppers cutting back on non-essential spending.
Energy costs have soared and more consumers than ever are taking their shopping online rather than physically visiting brick-and-mortar stores.
This has left several retailers grappling with budgets and being forced to close branches to slash costs.
Argos today revealed it is closing its standalone store at Kettering Retail Park for the final time.
Boots recently revealed it would be closing 300 stores over the next year as part of plans to evolve its brand.
B&M has already closed nine of its stores since February this year.
Popular chains including M&Co, Paperchase, and Wilko closed all stores in 2023.
Homebase closed a store last week leaving it with just 93 stores remaining since it was taken over by Hilco Capital in 2018.
Poundstretcher has closed five stores this year with another due to close by next year.
It’s not just shops either, food and pub chains have also been hit, resulting in brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny’s closing.
However, some chains have managed to defy high street troubles and are actually set to open new shops.
These include discount chains like Poundland which is set to open 15 shops in the coming weeks and Greggs which is aiming to open 150 new sites this year.