Nightmare for retail

Published: 28/06/2019 By Andrew Bailey

A nightmare month so far for British retail as dozens of stores closed and thousands of jobs were lost. Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group announced it was shutting 48 Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Evans stores, and that news came after M&S confirmed plans to close down 140 stores by 2024.

That itself followed the news that TV chef Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain was sinking into administration. The collapse saw 22 stores close and around 1,000 workers were without a job.

Popular Boots could also be set to close hundreds of stores in another huge blow to the High Street. Over two years, more than 200 stores are at the possibility of closure. Boots is currently one of the largest retailers in Britain by store numbers, employing 56,000 people from 2,485 stores. Over the last year profits have dwindled by more than 18% because shoppers have swapped to shopping online instead of shopping on the high street.

Even though there is the possibility of so many store closures it is said that many staff would be relocated to minimise job losses. These are tricky times for the High Street and each month seems to bring another story of a popular retailer hitting difficult times.