A SUPERMARKET large is ready to shutter considered one of its beloved superstores, leaving locals devastated as the ultimate closure date looms.
Tesco has confirmed it will likely be closing its retailer in Chippenham subsequent week, flattening the shutters for good on August 15.
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The Chippenham superstore, a staple of the Emery Gate purchasing centre since 2008, has been a lifeline for a lot of, particularly the aged and susceptible who stay close by and depend on its comfort.
The announcement of its closure was made again in January, however the last date has now been set, inflicting a wave of disappointment and frustration amongst consumers.
An indication displayed on the retailer learn: “This retailer will completely shut on August 15, 2024. Your nearest Tesco retailer is Chippenham, SN15 3EY.”
The closure marks the tip of Tesco’s 15-year lease at Emery Gate, as the corporate made what it described as a “troublesome choice” to close down the shop completely.
Tesco beforehand instructed The Solar: “We have now taken the troublesome choice to shut our Chippenham Superstore.
“We have now, nonetheless, secured a brand new smaller premises in Chippenham city centre which we’ll open as Tesco Chippenham Excessive Avenue Specific, and we look ahead to persevering with to serve our clients at our native shops.”
The brand new Specific retailer, set to switch a former Wilko web site, goals to offer continuity for Chippenham consumers, although no opening date has been confirmed.
Regardless of Tesco’s efforts to keep up a presence within the city centre, many locals really feel the lack of the bigger retailer will depart a major void.
Consumers have taken to social media to voice their issues and frustrations.
One wrote: “Big loss to Chippenham. Appalling that it’s got to the purpose the place we can have no grocery store within the city centre.
Many aged and susceptible individuals who stay close to the city centre (and haven’t got transport) have relied on it for years.
It is a wonderful retailer. What we shall be left with is a puny Tesco Specific, with few strains and elevated price.”
One other stated: “Simply one other nail within the coffin that was Chippenham city centre.
“Folks gained’t be doing a weekly store in a Tesco Specific with these costs.”
The sentiment was echoed by one other consumer, who stated: “Making an enormous mistake closing it down. No person goes to spend giant quantities of cash in Tesco Specific the place the costs are a lot inflated.”
Regardless of the backlash, Tesco has assured clients that this closure just isn’t a part of a wider pattern.
The corporate continues to function over 2,000 shops throughout the UK, and this specific closure is a standalone choice somewhat than a part of a wave of cuts.
Retail closures have turn out to be an all-too-familiar sight on British excessive streets, with a number of main chains saying closures or coming into administration lately.
The British Retail Consortium stories that over 6,000 shops have shut since 2018, a pattern pushed by rising enterprise charges, the fallout from coronavirus lockdowns, and the shift to on-line purchasing.
Whereas different supermarkets have managed to climate the storm, the retail sector as an entire has seen vital turmoil.
Iconic manufacturers like Wilko, Paperchase, and The Physique Store have all confronted closures or gone into administration, resulting in a reshaping of the UK’s excessive streets.
Nevertheless, it isn’t all doom and gloom.
Some retailers and hospitality venues are increasing, with Aldi planning to open 35 new shops this yr alone as a part of its purpose to succeed in 1,500 UK shops.
Beer large Heineken has additionally introduced a £39 million funding to reopen 62 shuttered British pubs.
As for Chippenham, whereas the lack of Tesco’s superstore will undoubtedly be felt, the opening of the brand new Specific retailer gives a glimmer of hope for locals who depend on the chain.
For now, the neighborhood braces for the change, hoping that the brand new retailer will serve their wants in addition to the outdated one did.
Why are retailers closing retailers?
EMPTY retailers have turn out to be an eyesore on many British excessive streets and are sometimes symbolic of a city centre’s decline.
The Solar’s enterprise editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doorways.
In lots of circumstances, retailers are shutting shops as a result of they’re now not the money-makers they as soon as had been due to the rise of on-line purchasing.
Falling retailer gross sales and rising workers prices have made it much more costly for retailers to remain open. In some circumstances, retailers are shutting a retailer and reopening a brand new store on the different finish of a excessive road to replicate how a city has modified.
The issue is that when an enormous store closes, footfall falls throughout the native excessive road, which places extra retailers vulnerable to closing.
Retail parks are more and more fashionable with consumers, who need to have the ability to get straightforward, free parking at a time when native councils have hiked parking prices in cities.
Many retailers together with Subsequent and Marks & Spencer have been shutting shops on the excessive road and taking larger shops in better-performing retail parks as a substitute.
Boss Stuart Machin just lately stated that when it relocated a drained retailer in Chesterfield to a brand new massive retailer in a retail park half a mile away, its gross sales within the space rose by 103 per cent.
In some circumstances, shops have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as within the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to call a number of.
What’s more and more frequent is when a sequence goes bust a rival retailer or personal fairness agency snaps up the mental property rights to allow them to personal the model and promote it on-line.
They could go on to open a handful of shops if there’s buyer demand, however there are not often ever as many shops or in the identical locations.
