‘We can’t believe it’ sob shoppers as popular DIY retailer with 230 stores to close shop’s doors for good this weekend

A POPULAR DIY store with more than 230 branches is set to close permanently within days.

Shoppers have been reduced to tears after Wickes announced it will close its Bristol branch.

GettyA popular DIY store is set to close its branch within days[/caption]

Facebook /@BristolWorldWickes is set to close its branch in Bristol on Saturday[/caption]

The trade and DIY store on Winterstoke Road in Ashton Gate will pull the shutters down on February 24, leaving local customers sobbing.

Reacting to the news, one shopper wrote on Facebook: ” Gone are our DIY days.”

Another expressed: “I can’t believe it, 40 years ago I started work there and now it’s going.”

A third said: “Crazy how time flies.”

It is understood that some 30 employees will be affected by the store close – and they will all be deployed in other locations local news website Bristol World reports.

Several notices have been put up around the store, urging customers to visit the nearest branch on Aldermoor Way in Longwell Green. 

Wickes has not yet officially announced the reason behind this move, but it is understood to be linked to plans for a new Sporting Quarter on the store’s site and the neighbouring businesses.  

The Sun has reached out to Wickes for a comment.

Full List of Wickes stores

Aintree
Alton
Andover
Anerley
Ashby
Ashford
Ashton Gate
Aylesbury
Baguley
Banbury
Barking
Barnsley
Barnstaple
Basingstoke
Beford
Beverley
Bexhill
Bicester
Birkenhead
Bishops Stortford
Blackheath
Blackpool
Bletchley
Bognor
Borehamwood
Boston
Bournemouth
Bracknell
Bradford
Bridgewater
Brighton
Broadstairs
Bulwell
Burgess Hill
Burton
Bury
Caerphilly
Canning Town
Cannock
Cardiff West
Carlisle
Catford
Chadwell Heath
Charlton
Chatham
Cheltenham
Chesham
Chester
Chesterfield
Chichester
Chippenham
Chorley
Cirencester
Clifton
Colchester
Colonnades
Corby
Coventry
Crawley
Crewe
Cricklewood
Croydon
Crystal Peaks
Darlington
Derby
Dewsbury
Doncaster
Dorking
Dudley
Dumfries
Dundee
Dunstable
Ealine
East Grinstead
Eastbourne
Edinburgh
Edmonton
Epsom
Erith
Exeter
Fareham
Farnborough
Folkestone
Glasgow
Glossop
Gloucester
Grantham
Gravesend
Grimsby
Guildford
Hailsham
Halesowen
Halifax
Hall Green
Handsworth
Hanger Lane
Hanworth
Harlow
Havant
Haverfordwest
Hayes
Hedge End
Hemel
Hendon
Hereford
Hertford
High Wycombe
Hinkley
Huddersfield
Hull
Huntingdon
Inverness
Ipswitch
Kettering
Kings Lynn
Kingston
Lancaster
Leeds Roundhay
Letchworth
Lichfield
Lincoln
Littlehampton
Longwell
Loughton
Lowestoft
Luton
Macclesfield
Maidstone
Maldon
Mansfield
Martlesham
Merton
Midsomer
Milton Keynes
Minworth
Newbury
Newcastle
Newmarket
Newport
Northallerton
Northampton
Norwich
Nottingham Central
Nottingham North
Nuneaton
Oldham
Oxford
Perth
Peterborough
Plumstead
Plymouth
Pontefract
Preston
Pudsey
Rayleigh
Reading
Redditch
Rotherham
Rugby
Ruislip
Rushden
Salisbury
Scunthorpe
Sevenoaks
Sheffield North
Shipley
Shrewsbury
Sittingbourne
Slough
South Shields
Southampton
St Albans
Strafford
Staines
Stirchley
Stirling
Stockport
Stockton
Stoke
Stowmarket
Sunderland
Sutton
Sutton Coldfield
Swansea
Swindon
Tamworth
Tauton
Telford
Thetford
Thurmaston
Tottenham
Trowbridge
Truro
Tunbridge
Tunstall
Uxbridge
Wakefield
Wallsend
Waltham Corss
Warrington
Waterlooville
Waterford
Welwyn
Weston
Wigan
Wigston
Wimbledon
Winchester
Winnersh
Winsford
Wisbech
Woking
Wolverhampton
Worcester
Worksop
Worthing
Wrexham
Yeovil
York

Britain’s retail apocalypse

It comes as the cost of living crisishigh inflation and rising energy costs are forcing retailers to close down their outlets.

Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found the UK had lost 6,000 stores over five years.

Numerous high street brands have collapsed into administration in the last 12 months, including major discounter Wilko.

But it has since returned to the high street under The Range’s ownership, and Wilko-branded items are being stocked in The Range stores.

Both M&Co and Joules are among the well-known brands which went bust in 2022.

Paperchase then collapsed into administration at the end of January last year and all 106 stores later closed for good.

Stores including Next, Boots, The Entertainer, Iceland, Clarks and WHSmith have also suffered.

And Argos, Next, Jack Wills and Poundland have announced they will all shut selected branches forever this year.

In the latest blow, famous cosmetic group The Body Shop has said will close almost half of its 198 stores after falling into administration.

The iconic beauty retailer has confirmed to The Sun seven branches will close with immediate effect.

The full list of stores that have closed so far:

Surrey Quays, London

Oxford Street Bond Street, London

Canary Wharf, London

Cheapside, London

Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Ashford Town, Kent

Bristol Queens Road

We have created a list of all the Body Shop stores that are at risk of shutting down.

British retailers saw the amount of goods they sold drop last month at its fastest rate in three years as under-pressure families shifted part of their Christmas shop to earlier in the year.

Sales volumes dipped by 3.2% in December, data from the Office for National Statistics suggests, down from a rise of 1.4% a month before.

Several big-name chains are pulling down the shutters for the final time this month.

The trade association’s chief executive Helen Dickinson OBE blamed the closures on “crippling” business rates and the impact of coronavirus lockdowns.

The good news

Thankfully some shops are bucking the trend and opening new locations.

Primark said it will open five new branches, and one is coming in just weeks.

B&M is opening six new locations at the start of 2024, including in former Wilko stores it has taken over.

Beauty retailer Sephora is opening its third location in Manchester this year.

Another skincare and make-up icon, Avon, plans to open shops in the UK for the first time in its over 100-year history.

Costco is looking to open 14 new locations in the UK over the next two years, while Greggs will add up to 160 branches this year.

See the full list of shops opening on the high street in our round-up.

  

   

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