A TRENDY fashion chain owned by H&M has begun closing all of its stores.
The brand previously had seven shops across the UK before its owner decided to cut costs by closing its high street stores.
Monki will shut the doors of its Arndale branch on January 12, 2025
The brand is known for its colourful and quirky designs, which are beloved by Gen Z.
Despite selling staples like low-rise and baggy jeans, the brand has struggled to attract new customers.
In response, H&M decided to shut all of its Monki stores.
It closed its Newcastle store first on January 2.
Monki has confirmed that its Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol and London stores will be closing too but have yet to reveal when this will be.
After that, the chain will have completely vanished from the UK high street.
However, shoppers will still be able to find Monki clothes at some of H&M’s Weekday stores.
Weekday is another brand owned by the Scandinavian company which caters to young people.
H&M hopes that the move will make Weekday the one-stop shop for trend-conscious Gen-Zers.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Why are shops closing stores? ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6353582364112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The fashion super-chain said: “A limited number of Monki stores are intended to be transformed into multi-brand Weekday destinations, while the others are intended to be closed.”
“The newly formed Weekday multi-brand destination will cater to customers’ high aesthetic standards while embracing their multitude of unique expressions.”
The shop has also thrilled shoppers by revealing that it is reviving a classic noughties brand: Cheap Monday.
Cheap Monday left the high street in 2018 after the chain’s popularity waned and the shop began to suffer from poor sales.
High street woes
H&M has been facing pressure to boost sales and streamline consumer experiences, after Inditex, the owner of rival brand Zara, saw a surge in sales.
Rocketing high street rent prices and a squeeze on consumer finances have made conditions difficult for both companies and consumers, adding to H&M and Inditex’s sales woes.
Also, the rising popularity of online shopping has meant people are favouring digital ordering over visiting a physical store.
[boxout headline=”RETAIL PAIN IN 2025″ intro=”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.”