Big kids clothing chain with 47 to shut ANOTHER site following string of closures
A POPULAR children’s clothing store has announced that it will shut its doors for good in weeks in a blow to parents.
Shoppers were saddened to hear the news and described the closure as “such a shame”.
The JoJo Maman Bebe store in Haywards Heath is set to shut for good.
The exact date the store will close and reason why have not yet been confirmed.
The chain has around 47 stores in the UK in cities including Nottingham, London and York.
It sells baby and young children’s clothing, maternity clothes and other essentials for parents.
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Shoppers took to social media to voice their disappointment that the “great shop” will close.
One said: “Brilliant, pretty much the only place in town to get children’s clothes and maternity supplies.”
Another added: “A shame as I’ve literally just had my baby last week and it was handy!”
Meanwhile a third added: “Shame. We got so many clothes for my daughter there. Great shop.”
JoJo Maman Bebe has already closed several shops this year.
The flagship store in Cardiff shut last month after 15 years in the city.
A message in the window said: “We'd like to thank our incredible team and many loyal customers who've supported us through the years.
“We hope you continue visiting our nearest stores in Bath, Bristol, and Stroud or shop online. With love, JoJo x.”
The chain also shuttered its store in Chichester, West Sussex in March.
No reason was given for the closure and the site was closed down immediately.
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.
Last year stores in Hitchin, Worcester and West Sussex also shut their doors for good.
Which other retailers are closing stores?
WHSmith is set to close six stores this month as it continues to withdraw from the high street to focus on its travel arm.
The stores earmarked for closure are:
- Halstead, Essex
- Halesowen, West Midlands
- Diss, Norfolk
- Newport, Wales
- Haverhill, Suffolk
- Woolwich, London
No dates have been given for the closures yet apart from Haverhill, which will close for good on April 26.
Last month it shut branches in Basingstoke and Winton, Bournemouth.
The WHSmith brand is set to leave the high street for good as it has agreed to sell 500 shops as part of a £76million deal.
Retail investor Modella Capital has bought the portfolio and all stores will be rebranded as TGJones.
WHsmith will instead focus on its 580 travel stores in airports, hospitals, railway stations and motorway service areas.
Sports Direct is also set to close a store this month.
Its shop in Newmarket Road, Cambridge will close for good on April 18.
The chain has closed several branches in the past few years.
Its shop in the Central Six Retail Park, Coventry, closed at the end of January 2024.
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Meanwhile, its branches in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, also shut down last year.
Farmfoods has also closed stores in Dundee, Banbury and Southend this year.
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