Bargain high street chain closes nine stores with more to follow in weeks – is your local affected?
A BARGAIN high street chain has closed several stores with more to follow within weeks – but it’s not all bad news for shoppers.
Poundland has shut the doors of nine shops over the past few months and is set to close two more.
The discount chain will pull down the shutters on its King’s Lynn, Norfolk store this Friday.
This will be followed by the Cumbernauld store in North Lanarkshire on June 11.
Poundland has said it shuts stores for a number of reasons – varying from relocations to bigger units, consolidating into existing nearby stores and because leases expire.
Despite this, shoppers have shared their disappointment on social media.
One wrote: “Our Poundland is unexpectedly closing! They only had one week’s notice.”
While another who spotted a closing notice on the Cumbernauld shop said there will “soon be nothing left” in their area.
It comes following a string of closures across the country since February this year.
Here’s the full list of Poundlands which have closed their doors so far in 2023:
- Poundland Team Valley, Gateshead – Closed May 25
- Poundland Festival Park, Stoke – Closed May 19
- Poundland Dewsbury – Closed May 17
- Poundland Swadlincote – Closed April 25
- Poundland Epsom – Closed March 29
- Poundland Lime Square, Openshaw – Closed March 27
- Poundland Ipswich – Closed March 11
- Poundland Southport – Closed March 3
- Poundland Walkden – Closed February 28
The Ipswich store is set to be relocated to a larger location this summer, while the landlords at both the Stoke and King’s Lynn shops asked the chain to vacate the sites.
It comes as Poundland told The Sun that it has opened or relocated 33 new stores so far this financial year.
It added that it’ll end the year with more stores than it started with and more space for shoppers to browse.
The chain previously announced that it plans to open 50 new shops by September.
Poundland isn’t the online discounter with expansion plans on the horizon either.
B&M is planning to open another 30 new stores over the next 12 months.
The new stores are expected to include a handful of relocations with the aim of replacing “legacy” shops as soon as leases expire.
It follows a particularly tumultuous time for UK high streets with several popular chains including M&Co and Paperchase closing all stores in 2023.
Retailers have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to soaring inflation.
High energy costs and a shift to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
Plus, home retailer Argos announced it will close all of its stores in the Republic of Ireland this year.
Iceland is closing another one of its supermarkets in June.
Plus, New Look is permanently pulling down the shutters on two of its shops in June and July.
Shops aren’t the only ones affected, major burger chain Byron Burger also fell into administration and closed nine restaurants immediately.
In December, pub chain Wetherspoons announced it would be closing a total of 39 pubs after being hit by soaring inflation.
Here’s the full list of shops and chains disappearing from the high street this year.
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