‘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.

Britain’s retail apocalypse

It comes as the cost of living crisis, high 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.