A POPULAR sweet shop has announced the closure of one of its stores in a seaside town, in a huge blow to the high street.
The shop, which has 47 stores across the UK, has said it has no plans to reopen its doors in the tourist hotspot.
Roly’s Fudge Pantry closed its doors for good in Worthing, West Sussex last month, with the store, on Montague Street, now empty.
The sweet shop had been open for three years and occupied the space previously inhabited by Thorntons, which permanently closed all of its UK high street stores in March 2021.
A spokesperson for Roly’s said: “We are saddened to announce the closure of Roly’s Fudge Pantry in Worthing.
“We are very grateful for the support and loyalty of the local community over the years.
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“We have no immediate plans to reopen in Worthing.
“The owners of this pantry look for new locations but in the meantime continue to run their fudge pantries in nearby Arundel in West Sussex and further afield in Lymington and Lyndhurst.“
Roly’s Fudge originated in Devon 35 years ago, and now has 47 independently run-family fudge pantries across the UK.
Every shop uses traditional recipes to hand-make fudge fresh every day, in view of it’s customers.
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The closure will no doubt come as a blow to the people of Worthing, and the millions of visitors that flock to the seaside town each year.
And Roly’s isn’t the only store to close its doors in West Sussex recently.
In another blow to the high street, a popular baby clothes store will soon be waving goodbye to customers in Chichester.
The Jojo Maman Bebe site will be shut down imminently – although no reason or exact date have been given.
A spokesperson said: “Unfortunately we are due to close our Chichester store, we are dedicated to supporting our employees through this transition and will provide assistance and resources to those affected.
“JoJo remains dedicated in our mission to deliver exceptional products and services to all of our customers, and we will value this with every decision that we make.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 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.
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.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has 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.”
“Our focus will be to continue providing high-quality services, strengthening our remaining stores and expanding our omni-channel capabilities to meet the demands of our customers.”
This was announced just weeks after the retailer closed down another store in Cardiff.
The move comes as other retailers, both independent and industry giants, continue to struggle.
Elsewhere, devastated shoppers said their farewells to a beloved boutique closing after 22 years.
Family-run Little N’s Baby Boutique sadly announced they will be shuttering their site in Dartford, Kent, in just days.
Dozens of shops are set to close across the country before the end of the month in the latest blow to UK high streets.
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Just a few months in to 2025 and it’s already proving to be another tough year for many major brands.
Rising living costs – which mean shoppers have less cash to burn – and an increase in online shopping has battered retail in recent years.
