POUNDLAND has confirmed another store closure ahead of shutting 10 shops.
Locals have been left devastated after the bargain chain confirmed it would exit a site at Copdock Mill Interchange, Ipswich on May 20.
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Taking to social media, shoppers in the area said they hope staff impacted by the move “are able to find work quickly”.
While a second said: “Not surprised, every time I’ve popped in there, there were more staff than customers.”
It draws a line under a 19 month stint in the unit, having first opened just over a year ago.
A spokesperson for the brand told The Sun: “Our Copdock Mill store will close on 20 May as we’ve been unable to agree terms that would allow us to keep trading there.
“We’d like to thank customers for their continued support – we look forward to welcoming them to our store at the Sailmakers centre in Ipswich.”
Retailers often close shops due to being unable to agree new leases, but it’s not the first Poundland store to announce a closure in recent weeks.
At the end of the month, the retailer’s branch on Chiswick High Road will also shut for good.
And just last week , stores across Gravesend’s St George’s Centre, Clapham Junction station in London, and Liverpool’s Belle Vale Shopping Centre all pulled down their shutters for the final time.
This comes on top of a closure in Brackla Wales which is due to take place on May 24.
A few months back, Poundland was forced to close a branch in Belfast after the Connswater Shopping Centre was put into receivership.
The shop closed at the end of March, with a major clothing down sale launched.
In October, Maidenhead residents were also left heartbroken following the closure of a Poundland branch.
This was on top of closures in in Sutton Coldfield on October 5 and the closure of its Macclesfield site last August after it was unable to secure a new lease agreement.
You can see the full list of closure below:
- Chiswick High Road – closing May 28
- Copdock Mill Interchange Ipswich, closing May 20.
- St George’s Centre, Gravesend – closed last week
- Clapham Junction Station, London – closed May 2
- Belle Vale Shopping Centre, Liverpool – closed May 6
- Brackla, Wales – closing May 24
- Connswater Shopping Centre, Belfast – closed end of March
- Maidenhead – closed October 2024
- Sutton Coldfield – closed early October 2024
- Macclesfield – closed August 2024
WHAT IS GOING ON AT POUNDLAND
Last month, its parent company Pepco is said to have hired advisory firm Teneo to oversee the sale of the UK business.
It comes after Pepco said it was looking at “all strategic options” to separate Poundland from its brand.
The Polish group said it might turn its focus to its more profitable businesses in Europe.
Pepco previously warned that upcoming hikes to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and national minimum wage would significantly add to its costs.
Late last year, it was revealed that profits at Poundland also tumbled by £641million in the year to September, with bosses again blaming slow sales amid a poor outlook thanks to measures set out by Reeves
A spokesperson also said the huge loss was “due to a non-cash impairment at Poundland that relates to the acquisition of the UK chain in 2016”.
Last week, Sky News said WH Smith owner Modella might be interested in buying the struggling discount chain.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
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.”
