The closing shop chains thread...

[dutchman]

Coventry takeaway shuts after landlord 'changes locks'



A popular takeaway has permanently closed in Coventry. Customers were left saddened at the sudden closure of Dodo Pizza, on Fairfax Street.

One said they were 'sad' to hear about the closure while another described it as a 'shame.'

CoventryLive understands that the landlord secured possession of the premises on January 16. Locks were believed to be changed which thereby forfeited the lease of the building.

A sign outside the takeaway on Fairfax Street reads: “Notice of Forfeiture. Take notice, that Priory RE Limited ('the Landlord') has today secured vacant possession of the property situated at and known as Retail Unit 3, Lower Level, Priory Place, Coventry ('the Property') by changing the locks thereby forfeiting the lease and determining any interest you have in the property.

“Under Section 12 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 unless an application is made to Howard Kennedy LLP as set out below within 14 days of this notice we intend to sell or dispose of all or any items you have left in the property. Any of the items are available for collection by you upon proof of ownership.

“Alternatively, we consider that the items will constitute a trespass at that time, and we shall remove them unless an application is made as set out below. Any person(s) who attempts to enter the property without consent will have criminal/civil proceedings taken against them.”

Dodo Pizza started out in Russia in 2011 and now has 911 outlets in 17 different countries, including Germany, Poland and Nigeria. After becoming the largest pizza chain in Russia the company chose the UK as its main country for expansion into Western Europe.

Fans of the takeaway can find the nearest branch in Leamington Spa. Other branches can be found in Walsall Wood and Brighton.

[rebbonk]

Maybe not that popular, then?

[dutchman]

Works begin on new Coventry shop after Boots pharmacy closes down



Works have begun on the old Boots pharmacy in Coventry which is set to be converted into a new shop. The Boots pharmacy along Quorn Way in Binley shut its doors on February 10.

Customers have been directed to the chain's nearest pharmacy in Warwickshire Shopping Park. Photos show the signage removed from the store. Residents are anticipating the arrival of a new shop to the city.

However, it is not known what the new shop will be. The reason behind the pharmacy closure is not yet known.

It was previously believed that the shop would be converted into a chemist. However, the signs were removed from the store directing customers to the chain's nearest pharmacy in Warwickshire Shopping Park.

One resident wrote on Facebook: "Did say on window another chemist but then they took that note off and put closing down." Another said: "I read somewhere that it was going to open as a pharmacy under a different name."

Some residents are suspecting the pharmacy will be converted into a restaurant - or perhaps a Greggs store.

Others expressed disappointment in the pharmacy shutting down.

One unhappy resident said: "[Annoyed] we don't have a pharmacy there any more. I can't walk far but I could walk to that one." Meanwhile another wrote: "Would prefer a pharmacy as I don’t drive and my nearest one I have to go is all the way by McDonald’s."

Greggs has been approached for comment, but after multiple emails, have yet to respond.

[dutchman]

Luxury clothing retailer to close down in Coventry



A luxury clothing retailer will soon be closing down in Coventry. Tessuti will shut for the final time in the coming months, it is understood.

Signs have been emblazoned on the front of the city-centre-based outlet, next to Costa Coffee. A number of designer lines have been reduced, with prices slashed by at least 30 per cent, the company said.

Tessuti, which sells a collection of high-end clothing brands, is expected to close later this year, with a date not yet confirmed as to when they will cease trading. It comes after a string of store closures throughout the country.

Tessuti was founded by David Light in 1985 and stocks luxury brands, such as Fred Perry, Polo Ralph Lauren and Moncler. It was taken over by Frasers Group in February.

A number of the popular clothing outlets have closed for good following the buyout by Frasers Group. Among them are stores in Warrington, Bolton, Stockport, Tamworth and Ipswich.

Frasers Group has been approached for comment by CoventryLive.

[dutchman]

Shutters down as Supercuts and Subway close at Nuneaton's biggest shopping centre



Shutters have been pulled down on several stores inside Nuneaton's biggest shopping centre. It appears that Supercuts, which is based on the upper floor, has closed.

According to Google, the hairdressers is 'permanently closed' and while the signage remains at the top of the unit, the salon itself is closed and has been emptied. It is the same for what was Subway, based next to Supercuts.

All of the livery from the eatery has been removed from the front of the unit and the trademark green shutters have been firmly pulled down. These units join others now on the market for sale and rent.

Among them are the former homes of Monsoon and River Island. The unit that played home to The Cream Store also remains closed after a sign saying 'landlord taken possession' appeared earlier in the year.

The temporary job centre, based in the former home of H&M, is also set to close after it was announced it was one due to be axed by the Department for Work and Pensions, back in June.

But two relatively new additions to the shopping centre, the return of HMV and also One Beyond, have proven to be popular with shoppers.

[rebbonk]

Wilko next to fall?

Budget retailer Wilko on brink of collapse, with 12,000 jobs at risk

Household goods chain with 400 stores prepares to appoint administrators

The budget retailer Wilko has said it is on the brink of collapse, with more than 12,000 jobs at risk, as the high street struggles with rising costs and lacklustre consumer demand.

The household and garden products retailer, which has about 400 stores, said it had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators at the high court on Thursday with advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) lined up.

PwC has been working with Wilko in recent months to try to find a buyer in an attempt to secure additional cash needed by the end of this month to keep trading.

If Wilko does collapse into administration it would be the largest retailer to do so since convenience store chain McColl’s just over a year ago – which was rescued by supermarket chain Morrisons.

The cut-price retailer, which was founded in 1930 when JK Wilkinson opened his first store in Leicester, has stepped into many high street gaps left by the collapse of Woolworths in late 2008, but has struggled in the tough economic climate. Last year it borrowed £40m from the restructuring specialist Hilco, cut jobs, rejigged its leadership team and sold off a distribution centre as it faced a cash squeeze after falling to a loss.

Sales fell as the retailer had to leave gaps on shelves after it struggled to pay suppliers and at least one credit insurer withdrew trade cover, prompting some suppliers to pause deliveries.

Despite its problems, the owners of Wilko, led by the Wilkinson family, took £3m in dividends in the 12 months to the end of February 2022. In accounts filed at Companies House last year, the group’s auditors warned it had “insufficient committed financing” to withstand a “severe but plausible downturn in trading activity”.

Hilco, which owns Homebase and once owned HMV, is likely to be in a prime position to take control of Wilko should it fall into administration as one of its biggest creditors.

A notice of intention protects a business from creditors for 10 days in order to give it time to secure its finances. The notice does not necessarily mean administrators will be appointed.

Mark Jackson, the chief executive of Wilko, said: “While we can confirm we’ve had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers that we believe would meet all our financial criteria to recapitalise the business, at present, we don’t today have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available, given the mounting cash pressures we’re faced with.

“Unfortunately, with this in mind, today we’re having to take the difficult decision to file a [notice of intention to appoint administrators].”

Jackson said the business would continue to hold discussions with interested parties and would aim to secure its future “as fast as possible”.

“We continue to believe that our robust turnaround plan, with significant re-stabilisation cost savings in progress, will deliver a profitable Wilko and maximise the significant opportunities that we know exist,” he said.

Andy Prendergast, the national secretary for the GMB union, which represents some Wilko workers, said: “This is extremely concerning but we remain hopeful that a buyer can be found.

“Wilko’s staff deserve reassurance that their jobs are safe. We hope this is the number one priority going forward.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/03/budget-retailer-wilko-makes-administration-move-risking-12000-jobs

[dutchman]

Boots store and pharmacy to close in Coventry in hammer blow for locals



A Coventry MP has expressed concern after it emerged a Boots store and pharmacy in the city would be closing later this year. Taiwo Owatemi said she was "disappointed and concerned" to learn the branch at 116-120 Jardine Crescent was to shut permanently.

The Tile Hill shop will be closed under plans by Boots to reduce its UK outlets from 2,200 to 1,900, the Labour MP said in a post on Twitter. News the company will be closing 300 of its shops in the UK was widely reported by media in June.

According to the BBC, branches that are near each other will close under Boots' consolidation plans. It is understood members of staff at affected shops will be offered roles at nearby stores.

Boots did not comment after being contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Ms Owatemi, who represents Coventry North West, has now started a petition to save the Jardine Crescent branch.

Her appeal calls news of the store's closure "deeply worrying" for all who rely on it, including many elderly people in the area. "As the only pharmacy in Jardine Crescent, the closure will not only impact patient access to medicine but will exacerbate health inequality in the area," the petition states.

"Customers relying on the local Boots pharmacy will now have to travel to the Boots store at Cannon Park which is two miles away. This will disproportionately impact those with travelling difficulties including disabled and elderly customers."

The nearest non-Boots pharmacy to Jardine Crescent is a 13-minute walk away, according to Google Maps. Ms Owatemi also called more widely for local pharmacies to stay open following news of the planned Boots closures.

[rebbonk]

A Coventry MP has expressed concern ...

Does the stupid woman think anyone cares what she thinks? Arrogance personified!

[rebbonk]

Clinton's in trouble, yet again...

Clintons set to close around a fifth of its shops

Clintons, the greeting cards retailer, is set to shut around 20% of its shops in an effort to keep the company afloat.

Reports suggest that if the firm is not able to strike a deal it faces insolvency.

It would be the third time in 11 years that Clintons has faced acute financial difficulties - it had to be rescued in 2012 and again in 2019.

Clintons has been contacted by the BBC for comment.

The retailer has appointed restructuring experts FRP Advisory, which has declined to comment.

According to The Times, Clintons has 179 shops and wants to close 38 of its outlets. It employs around 1,400 people.

It is the second High Street company facing financial difficulties. Last week, Wilko warned that it is on the brink of collapse, putting 12,000 jobs at risk.

The homewares company, which has been trading for 93 years, said that it had filed a "notice of intention" (NOI) to appoint administrators.

Wilko's chief executive Mark Jackson said that Wilko has been working to secure funding for a turnaround plan and had received "an indicative offer that would meet all financial criteria".

"However, this offer could not be executed in the timelines required, which is why we took the difficult decision this week to file an NOI," Mr Jackson added.

At its height, Clintons had nearly 800 shops and employed 8,000 staff.

However, in 2012 it was forced to file for administration and was rescued by American Greetings, a supplier owned by the US-based Weiss family.

At that point, 350 shops were shut and nearly 3,000 employees lost their jobs.

The family rescued Clintons from administration again in 2019. More stores were shuttered and job cuts continued.

Clintons was founded in 1968 by Don Lewin, the son of an East End chimneysweep.

The business made Mr Lewin a multi-millionaire, earned him an OBE and inspired his autobiography "Think of a Card".

The same year that Mr Lewis founded Clintons in Epping, Essex, two students Judith Cash and Eddie Pond set up Paperchase, a rival greeting cards and stationery specialist.

However, Paperchase filed for administration in 2021 after Covid lockdowns forced many non-essential retailers to close their doors.

Tesco eventually bought Paperchase's brand and intellectual property. The chain's 106 shops in the UK and Ireland were not acquired and hundreds of people lost their jobs.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66421173

[dutchman]

British towns are stuck in a doom-loop of decline



Britain is becoming a country of eerie ghost towns – their high streets and centres hollowed out by a decade and a half of relentless decline as our biggest chains remorselessly beat a hasty retreat from old-fashioned bricks and mortar retail.

Not so long ago, many of these places would have had a House of Fraser, a Debenhams, perhaps a Topshop, a Topman, and a branch of Oasis or Warehouse among many other fallen brands. Before that a BHS, a Toys R Us, and a Woolworths too.

Last year, the high street lost Joules, McColl’s, and TM Lewin during what was the worst 12-month period in five years. 17,000 shops shut in 2022 – equivalent to nearly 50 every day – with the loss of 150,000 jobs.

This year, big beasts such as Marks and Spencer, Boots and New Look have pulled back sharply, while the collapse of Paperchase and M&Co has left another 270 shops gathering dust.

Add to that the disappearance or rapid retrenchment of countless middle-of-the-road restaurant chains that over-expanded at the hands of one-trick pony private equity firms, and the seemingly never-ending closure of bank branches and pubs, and it’s no exaggeration to say that some cities and towns have been left with row upon row of boarded up shops and buildings.

It’s a doom-loop: each time another place closes, there is less of a reason for people to visit their local town centre.

In May, the Retail Gazette reported that three quarters of the 125 stores that Debenhams left behind when it went bust in 2021 remained vacant. Too many of these abandoned premises are either simply too big or too expensive, or often both.

Without a new approach, the British high street risks becoming a place where only vape shops, charity shops, and Turkish barbers reside.

It may already be too late for some. When we talk about towns “dying”, the sad reality may be that many high streets are already dead, and it’s far from clear what will replace them.