A MAJOR discount chain with 825 stores will shut a shopping centre site for good, with a 50 per cent closing down sale launched.
Poundland is preparing to close it’s branch in the St George’s Centre in Gravesend, Kent, in the latest blow to high street shoppers.
Various signs have been seen in the windows of the branch declaring a “closing down sale” and that items have had their prices slashed in half.
The official closing date for the branch has not yet been confirmed, according to reports.
And it’s not the only store Poundland intends to close soon.
Pepco, the group’s parent company, confirmed to The Sun earlier this month it would also close a branch in Liverpool on May 6.
The chain is preparing to shut its branch in the Belle Valle shopping centre.
A spokesperson said the decision came after it was served notice on the lease.
They added: “We know how disappointing this will be to customers and colleagues.
“Whenever we have to close a store in these circumstances, we do all we can to look for other opportunities for colleagues and that work is now underway.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D112872%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]Just last month, it was forced to close a branch in Belfast after the Connswater Shopping Centre was put into receivership.
The shop closed at the end of March, with a major clothing down sale launched.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Walkthrough Poundland’s first £1million store” 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=”6366058770112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]In October, Maidenhead residents were also left heartbroken following the closure of a Poundland branch.
This was on top of closures in in Sutton Coldfield on October 5 and the closure of its Macclesfield site last August after it was unable to secure a new lease agreement.
WHAT IS GOING ON AT POUNDLAND
Last month, its parent company Pepco is said to have hired advisory firm Teneo to oversee the sale of the UK business.
It comes after Pepco said it was looking at “all strategic options” to separate Poundland from its brand.
The Polish group said it might turn its focus to its more profitable businesses in Europe.
Pepco previously warned that upcoming hikes to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and national minimum wage would significantly add to its costs.
Late last year, it was revealed that profits at Poundland also tumbled by £641million in the year to September, with bosses again blaming slow sales amid a poor outlook thanks to measures set out by Reeves
A spokesperson also said the huge loss was “due to a non-cash impairment at Poundland that relates to the acquisition of the UK chain in 2016”.
This means the value of the business has decreased because of an expectation that future cash flows will fall.
More recently, Poundland also saw revenue fall by 9.3% for the three months to December.