HIGH STREET shoppers have been dealt another major blow, as a leading fashion retailer announces the closure of three more stores.
The popular brand, which operates over 105 locations, has been rolling out a series of closures across the UK.
Select Fashion has announced the closure of three more stores[/caption]
Three additional Select Fashion stores have now confirmed they’re set to close their doors.
The Merthyr Tydfil store in Wales will close in March along with the Wellingborough store on March 15.
The Wiltshire branch in Chippenham is also closing down.
This follows five other closures announced earlier this month.
Shoppers have flocked to social media to share their sadness over the decision.
One user wrote: “This is so sad, why is everything closing down.”
Another said: “Oh no, i love this store.”
Others blamed internet shopping, saying: “The internet (online shopping), mobiles, big stores like Tesco, Asda etc have killed the high street.”
Merthyr locals were particularly worried about the high street facing yet another closure.
One local said: “Such a shame, Merthyr is becoming a ghost town, we’re losing everything.”
Another agreed, adding: “Merthyr needs its shops back.”
Shoppers have been warned to “please check gift credit vouchers” before the shop closes.
The previously announced closures include:
- Wolverhampton – end of January
- Scunthorpe – end of January
- Kidderminster, – end of January
- Crewe – no date given
- Thornaby – end of January
The closures have launched a series of closing down sales, giving locals a chance to grab some bargains one last time.
Select’s closures comes after the British fashion brand – owned by Turkish entrepreneur Cafer Mahiroğlu – fell into administration in 2019.
At the time, the retailer blamed tough conditions on the high street and was later bought out of administration by Genus UK Limited.
Recent filings on Companies House – the UK’s register of businesses – show Select Fashion entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) last summer.
A CVA is a way of restructuring that means a business can continue trading by negotiating its debts, such as cutting rent costs with landlords.
It is a common way for struggling businesses to try and stay afloat, with chains such as Caffe Nero and Body Shop having previously entered into one.
These reports also follow a barrage of closures made by the bargain fashion store last year.
Bosses decided to call time on its Ipswich, Kent, and Cwmbran branches last year.
Select also closed its branch in the Erith Riverside Shopping Centre in London.
The bargain retailer, which has been on the high street for nearly four decades, has around 105 stores still up and running.
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.”
MORE CLOSURES
The high street seems to be suffering all around as Brits steer more towards online shopping and amid high business rates.
Soaring inflation in recent years has also dented shoppers’ pockets.
The Centre for Retail Research’s latest analysis suggests 13,479 stores, the equivalent of 37 each day, shut for good in 2024.
Of those, 11,341 were independent shops while 2,138 were shut by larger retailers.
The data also showed over half the stores that closed last year were shut due to the store or retailer going through insolvency proceedings.
This is when formal measures are taken to deal with tackling a business‘s debt.
Retailers are shutting stores in 2025 too.
The Body Shop is pulling down the shutters on five branches in Exeter, Plymouth, Horsham, Norwich and Sheffield.
Three other branches have already closed in Cambridge and Hove.
Select closures 2025
- Wolverhampton – end of January
- Scunthorpe – end of January
- Kidderminster, – end of January
- Crewe – no date given
- Thornaby – end of January
- Merthyr Tydfil – end of March
- Wellingborough – March 15
- Wiltshire, Chippenham – no date given
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