A BELOVED homeware chain that has been serving customers for 20 years has been forced to shut up shop after falling into administration.
The brand collapsed last November and has since put many of its stores up for sale.
Homebase in Selby, North Yorkshire, suddenly shut yesterday as shoppers were faced with bare shelves.
Pictures show how areas of the store were cordoned off with signs restricting entry.
Huge posters were spotted outside suggesting everything must go.
Some customers have already taken to posting on social media with one person simply captioning an exterior photo: “The end of homebase.”
Reviews of the store suggest many will be saddened by the news.
One wrote: “Fabulous store! I love it here. Great location, store is immaculately set out. A Fantastic range of products. All the staff are police and helpful.
“Pricing is competitive but one thing that really stood out (other than how nice the staff are ) was how healthy the plans looked.
“Whoever looks after them does a terrific job!”
Another commented: “Great selection of a lot of things. Got what we needed quickly. Staff very helpful.”
Someone else put: “Update January…. This place is now closing down. What a shame it was a great place to shop for DIY. The Range will be taking over the site shortly….”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Homebase is set to close ten of its stores, which will soon be taken over by a major supermarket chain” 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=”6361196359112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The company behind big-name brands, The Range and Wilko, has bought out many of the collapsed company’s branches including Selby.
According to the website the town’s store will open as The Range next month with current plans set for March 7.
Staff have reportedly been offered to transfer to the new site which will run as part of the Range brand.
It follows the Sudbury branch announcing it would close in just days.
The outlet stated that closing down have appeared in the window of the Sudbury Homebase stating that there are only a few days before the store closes down.
One local also said they visited the shop recently and there was
“literally nothing left”.
Another 33 outlets are thought to be set to close this month with many being taken on by CDS Superstores.
Administrators for the retailer Teneo previously confirmed which branches would shut permanently in weeks.
These include:
- Abington
- Alnwick
- Antrim
- Barnstaple
- Basildon Vange
- Belfast
- Branksome
- Cannock
- Chester
- Chichester Discovery Park
- Craigavon
- Daventry
- Derby Kingsway
- Folkestone
- Galwally
- Gateshead
- Glenrothes
- Harlow
- Herne Bay
- Hove
- Inverurie
- Ledbury
- Lewes
- Luton
- Newcastle Under Lyme
- Norwich Hall Road
- Norwich Sprowston
- Nottingham Arnold
- Saffron Walden
- Selly Oak
- Sleaford
- Sudbury
- Waltham Cross
It comes after 13 of the DIY chain’s branches shut for good in January.
Homebase fell into administration in November, with up to 70 of the struggling DIY chain’s branches bought by CDS Superstores, now trading as Wilko, The Range and Homebase.
But that left around 74 branches at risk of closure if no buyers could be found to take them on.
[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.”
