A MAJOR retailer with 89 branches is set to shut a popular store in weeks ahead of a raft of closures.
Jewellery chain Beaverbrooks is closing its branch at the Whitgift Centre in Croydon on April 6.
The store is one of seven sites shutting across March and April, as exclusively revealed by The Sun.
Anna Blackburn, managing director for Beaverbrooks, said customers’ next nearest branches are in Stratford, London and the Bluewater and Lakeside shopping centres in Kent and Essex, respectively.
She added: “I’d like to share a heartfelt thank you to our Croydon community and every colleague and customer that has been a part of our journey in Croydon over the past 30 years.”
Shoppers and locals will no doubt be gutted to hear the store is closing for good in a matter of weeks.
It has garnered a stream of positive Google reviews, including from one shopper who branded the store “one of the last best places in Croydon”.
Another said the customer service team “could not be more polite, professional and understanding”.
It comes after Beaverbrooks told The Sun it will close seven branches across March and April.
The more than 100-year-old company said it is trimming its store estate following a review.
Ms Blackburn said: “Due to a range of factors, there are seven stores that are unfortunately no longer commercially viable, and after careful and thorough consideration we have made the difficult decision to close them.”
The stores are dotted across the UK, including five in England: Whitgift (Croydon), High Wycombe, Huddersfield, Birmingham Fort and Sutton Coldfield.
One in Dundee and another in East Kilbride, both in Scotland, will also shutter from next month.
All seven branches will remain open and operating as normal until they close for good.
Ms Blackburn said Beaverbrooks would try to retain as many staff from the affected branches as possible.
She added that the multi award-winning business plans to open a new store in Harrogate in Spring while some of its branches are under renovation.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D107865%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]In its most recent accounts, Beaverbrooks said profitability in the 53 weeks to March 2, 2024, had “reduced considerably” despite an increased turnover.
This, it said, was in part due to increasing worker’s pay and property refurbishments and repairs.
Turnover is the total amount of money made by a business over a certain period of time.
The seven upcoming closures come after Beaverbrooks shuttered a store in Romford, London, last March.
It’s worth bearing in mind, retailers often close branches and open them in other areas based on customer demand and trends.
RETAIL SECTOR STRUGGLES
The retail sector has been hit hard in recent years as the trend towards online shopping intensifies.
The most recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows online retail sales increased from 5% of all retail sales in 2008 to 27% in 2022.
Shoppers have also been feeling the pinch in recent years following sky-high inflation which has dented their wallets and purses.
It has led to a number of major retailers having to close stores to shore up their finances.
Boots announced in 2023 it would shut 300 of its branches in a bid to slim down its high street presence while WHSmith is in talks to sell off 500 of its stores.
Jewellery chains have been forced into closing branches as well.
Claire’s has closed a number of stores in recent years, including in Gillingham, Nuneaton and Newton Abbott.
T H Baker also shuttered a branch in Cambridge in May last year.
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.