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Shoe chain to shut branch within days after 60 years as closing down sale launched
A SHOE chain is set to close one of its shops this week after 60 years in business.
A.G. Meek will shut its branch on Eastgate Street, Gloucester, on April 12 in a blow to shoppers.
The closure will mean the chain has just four remaining sites, all of which are in Wales.
Owner David Meek said the shop will shut due to the upcoming employer National Insurance Contributions, a decrease in business rate relief and lower footfall.
From this month the rate of National Insurance that employers must pay will rise from 13.8% to 15%.
Meanwhile, the threshold at which they are paid will be lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
Plus an existing discount on retail business rates will fall from 75% to 40%.
In a post on Facebook, Mr Meek said: “We have been struggling with rapidly rising costs and reduced footfall since the pandemic and the shop has not been covering its costs.
“I have held off hoping things would improve, but the recent budget is a disaster for small businesses employing lots of part time staff like ours.
“Our National Insurance on one shop and our business rates are increasing by £5,000 a year each from April and this is unsustainable.”
The chain launched a closing down sale, with discounts available on a range of branded shoes.
Customers who make a purchase could also get a £10 voucher to use on the A.G. Meek website or at one of the retailer’s other branches in south Wales.
A.G. Meek opened its first shop in Cardiff in 1912.
It became popular in the 1950s for its Meek’s Sets, which includes shoes, a bag and gloves.
Which other shops have closed stores?
Small businesses have struggled in recent years due to changing shopper behaviour and reduced footfall at their stores.
The British Independent Retailers Association said last year was one of the most challenging for shop owners.
Andrew Goodacre, chief executive officer, said: “Consumer spending on non-food items has declined significantly, while persistent footfall problems and fragile consumer confidence have impacted high streets nationwide.”
He added that small businesses have struggled in an increasingly competitive market as larger chains are able to discount stock for longer periods.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, 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.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
The Centre for Retail research said 11,341 independent retailers closed for good last year.
In total 13,479 shops were forced to shut in 2024.
The trend has continued this year and several retailers have already announced store closures this month.
Among them is WHSmith, which is set to close six stores this month as it withdraws from the high street to focus on its travel arm.
The stores earmarked for closure are:
- Halstead, Essex
- Halesowen, West Midlands
- Diss, Norfolk
- Newport, Wales
- Haverhill, Suffolk
- Woolwich, London
No dates have been given for the closures yet apart from Haverhill, which will close for good on April 26.
Last month it shuttered stores in Winton, Bournemouth and Basingstoke.
The WHSmith brand is set to leave the high street for good and has agreed to sell 500 shops as part of a £76million deal.
Retail investor Modella Capital has bought the portfolio and all the stores will be rebranded as TG Jones.
WHSmiths is focusing on its 580 travel stores in hospitals, airports, railway stations and motorway service areas.
Sports Direct is also set to shut its store in Newmarket Road, Cambridge on April 18.
It has previously shut branches in Stroud, Gloucestershire and High Wycombe.
Farmfoods has also closed stores in Dunee, Banbury and Southend this year.
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Glam footballer Madelene Wright cheekily sticks out tongue in busty snap as she shows fans inside new home
MADELENE WRIGHT took social media by storm once more with another cheeky snap.
This time Madelene proudly showed her fans around her new pad on Instagram.
The footballer accompanied her story with two selfies, one of which showed her cheekily sticking her tongue out.
Madelene also posted the following caption: “Just got the keys to my adult life.”
Her 323,000 followers were left in awe as they stormed the comments’ section.
One fan posted: “Proud of you.”
Another commented: “Truly beautiful.”
A third wrote: Looking fabulous.”
This fan said: “Amazing smile.”
And another gushed: “Stunning.”
Madelene is known for sharing a series of glam pics across her social media channels.
The footballer has played for the likes of Charlton, Leyton Orient and Chesham.
And she has been juggling her football career with her social media as well as OnlyFans activities.
Inside Madelene’s glamorous life as footballer and OnlyFans star…
