A TOWN centre gift and interior design shop has announced it will be closing its doors after 10 years of trading.
Hilary & Alice, based in Diss, South Norfolk, will close its doors, citing declining footfall and rising costs.
1
The gift shop, which also provides interior design services, has been a beloved fixture on Mere Street for over a decade.
However, in a heartfelt post on Facebook, the owners revealed that retaining the physical shop is no longer sustainable.
The post said: “After nearly 10 incredible years trading in Diss, we’ve got some big news to share.
“As of later this summer, our beloved physical shop will be closing its doors.
“Running a shop is tough at the best of times, but the past few years have thrown challenge after challenge at small businesses like ours.
“We’ve proudly weathered nearly a decade of trading through a global health crisis, a cost-of-living crisis, and the slow decline of the Diss high street.
“Sadly, as more stores have closed, footfall has dropped, and rising costs have made it harder than ever to sustain a physical retail space.”
The closure doesn’t mark the end of the business, as the owners have confirmed that the brand will continue to provide in-home consultations for furniture painting, upholstery, and comprehensive interior design services.
However, shoppers have expressed their sadness on social media over the closure of the beloved physical store.
One person said on Facebook: “Such a shame! So many lovely individual and unique things that have been great personal presents bought in here…
“A big loss for the high street.”
Another said: “I only came to Diss just to visit your store.”
A third shopper added: “Actually gutted!
“Although I’ve only brought a couple items from you before this is by far the best shop window in diss, and I’m sad to see it’s no longer going to be there! Good luck!”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
Other shops leaving the high street
Beales, one of Britain’s oldest department stores, has launched a closing down sale before it shuts its last remaining shop after more than 140 years.
The company will shut its branch in Poole’s Dolphin Centre on May 31.
The sale includes fashion, furniture, gifts and cosmetics, being sold for up to 70% off.
Beales chief executive Tony Brown blamed the “devastating impact” of the rise in national insurance contributions and the higher minimum wage for the store closure.
Meanwhile, high street fashion chain New Look has begun to close stores as it scales back its UK footprint.
It is understood to be shutting nearly 100 stores – equivalent to around a quarter of its 364 shops.
Stores in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, St Austell, Cornwall and Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taf have launched closing down sales.
Reports suggest that the company has been forced to accelerate the pace of store closures due to tax changes in the Autumn Budget.
Meanwhile, Huttons in London will shut its store in the Putney Exchange due to excessive energy costs.
The gift shop became a local icon after it opened in the 1990s.
