A MAJOR supermarket chain is preparing to close yet another store amidst a series of recent shutdowns.
Iceland has announced that its Margate branch will permanently close its doors this June.
Staff at the shop have been advised its last day of trading will be June 21, according to Kent Online.
A spokesperson for Iceland said: “We can confirm our Margate Iceland store will close.
“Our store colleagues have entered into a consultation process and have been offered opportunities at surrounding stores where possible.”
The latest closure is part of a wave of branch shutdowns by the budget supermarket in recent months.
Read more in money
Iceland closed its Derby store on February 22, offering no explanation for the decision.
Similarly, its Welling branch in London was shut on February 1, again with no reason provided.
Since the start of the year, several other locations have also ceased operations, including branches in Borehamwood and Exeter.
Iceland’s decision to close its Margate branch is just one of several store closures set to take place in the area over the coming weeks.
Most read in Money
Discount retailer, The Works, is shutting it’s local shop on June 15.
It’s important to note that it’s common practice for retailers to close stores in certain locations while opening new ones elsewhere based on customer demand and market trends.
For instance, Iceland has announced plans to open 20 new Iceland and Food Warehouse stores by the end of April.
The Food Warehouse, a brand owned by the Iceland Foods Group, first launched in 2014 and has since grown in popularity.
These stores are typically larger than traditional Iceland branches and are often located in retail parks, catering to a wider range of shoppers.
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.
Read More on The Sun
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.
