New Look, Homebase and WH Smith all closing stores this weekend - full list
A handful of popular high street stores will be closing their doors for good this weekend.
Over the last few years, the British high street has seen some major changes. In particular, the number of shops you can find on them now has reduced significantly. Research carried out by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that 6,000 shops have closed down for good in Britain in the past five years.
Businesses were finding it difficult to bounce back after the Coronavirus lockdowns originally. However, combined with rising energy bills and other costs alongside the cut backs on non-essential shopping from customers - retailers are struggling to remain open.
Five retailers including New Look, WH Smith and Lacoste will be closing shops across the country over the weekend and below is a full list of which stores the chains are shutting for good.
New Look
Clothing retailer New Look will be closing its branch in Shirley, Southampton, on Sunday, December 3. The closure was confirmed by New Look in a statement which said: ""We would like to thank all of our colleagues and the local community for their support over the years. We hope customers continue to shop with us at our nearby location in Southampton, while our full product ranges can also be found at newlook.com."
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Shoppers who would like to visit a New Look branch will now have to travel to its store in Westquay Shopping Centre. New Look has not confirmed the reason behind the closure. However, it has told the Mirror previously that closures were a "normal course of business" and that it did occasionally close stores whilst undertaking relocations and new site openings.
Wetherspoon
The Foxley Hatch Wetherspoon pub in Purley will be shutting its doors for good this Sunday. The Foxley Hatch was put up for sale just over a year ago and was one of 30 pubs the chain put up for sale in October 2022. It is currently uncertain whether the pub will reopen under a different brand or name.
In a statement on the closure, a Wetherspoon spokesperson said: “We would like to thank all of the staff and customers at the Foxley Hatch who have made it such a wonderful pub. We appreciate our staff’s dedication and hard work and our customers’ loyalty.”
Homebase
Homebase will be closing two branches on December 3. The branches set to shut are the Homebase on Marsh Mills Retail Park in Plymouth and the Southam Road store in Banbury.
Once the March Mills Retail Park store closes customers will have to travel 30 miles east to get to the next closest store in Newton Abbot. Following the closure of the Banbury branch, which opened in the 2000s, the nearest Homebase store for locals will be 14 miles away in Bicester. The reason behind the closures has not been confirmed by the home retailer. It has also not disclosed how many workers will be affected by the closures.
WH Smith
WHSmith will be closing its Market Street store in Manchester on Saturday, December, 2. The closure was confirmed by the bookshop and stationery retailer in a notice in the window. This read: "Unfortunately this store will cease trading on 2nd December 2023. We would like to thank you for your custom. We would like to thank you for your custom."
The notice then informs customers that the closest WHSmith to Manchester will be at the Trafford Centre. Earlier this year the retailer's top boss said it had no plans to open new high-street stores, but instead will focus on areas such as airports and railway stations.
Lacoste
The fashion brand and retailer Lacoste will also be closing the doors of its Leicester store this Sunday. This store is located in the Highcross Shopping Centre in the town centre and the news of its closure was confirmed in a notice displayed in the window. This notice read: "Dear valued customer, we are sorry to inform the Lacoste Leicester Boutique's last day of trade will be the 3 December 2023. We thank all our customers for their loyalty over the years."
Once the store is closed, the nearest Lacoste branches will be at the Designer Outlet East Midlands, in Derby, and in the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham.
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