A BIG name on the high street is set to lose a little sparkle this weekend as it shuts three more stores for good.
Beaverbrooks, the major jewellery chain with 89 shops across the UK, is swinging the axe on its Huddersfield branch on Saturday — followed by closures in Croydon and Sutton Coldfield on Sunday.
All three shops have launched a huge closing-down sale, with everything now 50% off.
A message on the Beaverbrooks website reads: “We’d like to say thank you to all our customers for visiting our store over the years and for celebrating your special moments with us.
“Please do visit us and shop our closing down sale to save 50% on beautiful diamonds, jewellery and watches.”
It comes after The Sun exclusively revealed that Beaverbrooks would shut seven branches across March and April due to stores being “no longer commercially viable”.
So far, five stores have already closed their doors, including two in Scotland — East Kilbride and Dundee — on March 16.
Beaverbrooks also shut shops in Birmingham Fort and High Wycombe on March 23, with this weekend’s three closures completing the list.
Managing director Anna Blackburn said the decision followed a detailed review of business performance.
She said: “We aim to retain as many colleagues as possible within other Beaverbrooks stores or the wider business, and are working closely with each individual affected to provide them with options for their specific needs, supporting them with their next steps whatever they may be.”
She added that bosses “delivered the news in person to every team member”.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Bargain chain trouble” 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=”6367302087112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The jewellery giant is shaking up its retail footprint this year, with a brand new store set to open in Harrogate on April 11. Some existing shops are also getting a revamp.
In accounts filed with Companies House, Beaverbrooks revealed profitability in the 53 weeks to March 2, 2024, had fallen “considerably”.
It said: “Despite increasing turnover and market share, profitability for the period was reduced considerably which reflects significant and broad increases in costs.”
The company blamed the dip on rising staff wages and the cost of refurbishing its properties.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D111220%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]It’s not the first time Beaverbrooks has trimmed down — the Romford store in London also closed last month.
Retail experts say closures don’t always signal trouble — sometimes shops are moved or shut based on changing demand and local trends.
Beaverbrooks isn’t alone in scaling back.
A high street discount retailer is closing down one of its popular stores, leaving shoppers furious.
Poundland, inside Liverpool‘s Belle Vale Shopping Centre, is set to close at the end of the month.
The much-loved chain, which has more than 800 stores across the UK, confirmed the closure will take place on May 6 after being served notice on the lease.
A spokesperson for Poundland said: “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.
[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.”
“We’d like to thank customers at Belle Vale for their support – and look forward to welcoming them at our other stores across Merseyside.”
Locals took to Facebook to share their frustration. One post read: “Another shop closing down. Good luck to the staff and hope they find another job soon.”
Another user blasted “greedy landlords” and said: “There won’t be anything left poor staff.”
One commenter added: “Its wrong some of the workers in there have been loyal workers in there for years.
“Bellevale owners don’t give a (monkeys) about the shops or the community.
“They’re greedy and either want ridiculous rent and contracts or they want to force people out so they can flatten it.”
The closure follows a rocky period for Poundland, with parent company Pepco reporting a £641million fall in profits last year.
The Polish retail giant is now reportedly considering a sale of the business to focus on its European operations.