NEW LOOK has confirmed one of its branches will shut amid rumours it will accelerate on mass store closure plans.
The fashion retailer will pull down the curtains on the Wickford site in a matter of weeks.
The Essex store will welcome in customers for the final time on January 24 in a blow for the high street.
A spokesperson for the chain said the Wickford branch was closing “at the landlord’s request”.
They added: “We would like to thank all of our colleagues and the local community for their support over the years.
“We hope customers continue to shop with us at our nearby Basildon store, whilst our full product ranges can also be found at newlook.com.”
Retailers often open and close shops for a number of reasons, including leases expiring and them being situated in under performing areas.
Yesterday, we reported New Look could close almost 100 shops following the Government’s Autumn Budget tax raid.
From April, employers will have to pay national insurance for staff at a rate of 15%, up from 13.8%, and the threshold at which they begin to pay the tax has also been lowered.
This combined with minimum wage also rising and rising business rates have put extra pressure on retailers.
For the time being, all of New Looks’ stores remain open as usual, and no final decisions regarding closures have been made.
In 2018, New Look traded with almost 600 stores in the UK.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Britain’s retail apocalypse: why your favourite stores KEEP closing down” 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=”6339711979112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Since then, the retailer has twice restructured its store estate and now has 364 shops.
Next has cautioned prices will go up by 1% with it set to tackle a £67million increase in staff costs.
Greggs, Halfords and Sainsbury’s have also said prices may be hiked to account for the rise in employer NICs.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D101919%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]RETAIL SECTOR STRUGGLES
The retail sector’s woes have been ongoing for years, even before the Government’s Autumn Budget.
The Centre for Retail Research has described the industry as going through a “permacrisis” since the 2008 financial crisis.
A number of factors have seen the industry struggling, including the rise of online shopping and lower footfall to stores, the coronavirus pandemic and the increased cost of living for households.
In recent years, a number of major chains have collapsed into administration leading to the closure of hundreds of shops.
This includes Ted Baker, Homebase, Carpetright and discount giant Wilko.
Other retailers have stayed afloat but have decided to downsize their store portfolios, like Boots.
Independent retailers across the UK have been hit particularly hard.
The Centre for Retail Research said 11,341 independent stores shut in 2024, a 45.5% jump from 2023.
But it’s not all been bad news across the sector, with a number of retailers including B&M, Aldi and Lidl announcing in recent years plans to open hundreds of branches between them.