SHUT DOWN
Huge retail chain with over 300 locations to shut popular store as ‘everything must go’ closing down sale launched
Watch our video to find out why all your favourite stores are closing
A RETAIL giant has pointed to permanent closure in a popular town centre after launching an 'everything must go' closing down sale.
The chain has over 300 branches across the UK - but isn't the first of its kind to be knocked off the high street.
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Trespass in Westgate Street, Ipswitch was seen plastered in 'closing down' and 'everything must go' posters this week.
The store has also announced on the banners it will close Saturday, October 18.
It comes after the outdoor clothing store said in March that it would be temporarily closing for refurbishment.
However these signs have now been ripped down and swapped with adverts for a closing down sale.
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Locals took to Facebook over the news, with one shocked shopper writing: "Another one bites the dust. New barbers and a vape shop coming your way."
A member replied: "Or a phone shop."
However others have theorised that the store isn't actually closing down.
One person claimed: "They are renegotiating another lease, it's a tactic."
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Another said: "Its been closing down for years lol."
A third joked: "This shop has been shutting more time then I have had hot sausage rolls from Greggs."
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In November 2019 the Ipswich shop but up signs to say the that December and that "all stock must go".
Except it later emerged that the shop was not shutting after all - with staff claiming Trespass had renegotiated an extension on its lease.
The Sun reached out to Trespass for comment.
RETAIL WOES
You may have noticed Trespass isn't the only brand to be fading from the high street in recent months.
Red Menswear in Chatham in Medway, Kent shut for the final time on March 29 after starting business in 1999.
Meanwhile, Sports Direct axed its Newmarket Road store in Cambridge on April 18.
And a couple months ago, Essential Vintage told followers on social that it would be closing down after they had been "priced out" because of bigger players in the market such as Vinted.
More WHSmiths stores are also set to close this month, with plans to leave the high street forever in an agreement to sell 500 shops as part of a £76million deal.
New Look is also depleting, having made the decision to axe nearly 100 branches as they battle challenges linked to Autumn Budget tax changes.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer's 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire - equating to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on New Look's 8,000-strong workforce.
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Many say the latest drive to accelerate closures is driven by the upcoming increase in National Insurance contributions for employers.
The move, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October, is hitting the high street hard - and the British Retail Consortium has predicted these changes will create a £2.3billion bill for the sector.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 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.
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."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has 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."
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