Big high street retailers with 136 sites to shut two stores in weeks following string of closures
A pair of high street retailers with a combined total of around 136 stores will shut two of their stores in weeks following a string of closures.
Both Blacks and Millets have announced they will close their sites across Brighton and Worthing.
The outdoor retail duo are owned by JD Sports, which rescued its parent company Blacks Outdoor Retail Limited in 2012 for £20 million.
A major closing down sale offering 30% off items in stores has been launched at both sites, according to The Argus.
Both branches are set to be converted into GO Outdoors stores, another alfresco apparel store which is also owned by JD Sports.
It's been reported Blacks will be transformed come May, while no date has yet been given for Millets conversion.
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The Sun has contacted JD Sports for comment.
It's not the only Blacks store set to be transformed.
Stores in both Bury St Edmunds and in Sheffield will also come GO Outdoor branches.
Blacks Bury St Edmonds store was converted into a GO Outdoors Express store in January.
Meanwhile the store in Sheffield will be transformed in May.
Another Blacks store in the area was transformed into a Go Outdoors store at the start of the year.
Lee Bagnall, chief of JD Outdoors, said at the time he was "confident" the conversion "would offer a rewarding shopping experience for outdoor enthusiasts."
Customers keen to shop for Blacks goods can do so on their online website.
Blacks, which has 36 stores nationwide, also announced its popular shop on Argyle Street would be converted into a Go Outdoor branch.
Bosses confirmed the Blacks store will be converted into a Go Outdoors Express store in May.
MORE STORE CONVERSIONS
As for Millets, which has around 100 stores across the UK, the brand has also faced a number of conversions and closures in recent times.
Last winter it launched clearance sales at six of its stores.
However, four of these locations will be reopened and rebranded as GO Outdoors.
These include sites in Lowestoft, Douglas, York and Grimsby.
Its sites in Burgess Hill, West Sussex closed in January.
However, four of these locations will be reopened and rebranded as GO Outdoors.
These include sites in Lowestoft, Douglas, York and Grimsby.
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There are now 96 Go Outdoors sites across the country.
Like Millets and Blacks, GO Outdoors offers everything needed for camping trips and other outdoor activities, stocking the same big brands.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
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."
Professor Bamfield has also 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."