Beloved bakery suddenly closes its doors with NO explanation after three quarters of a century
A BELOVED bakers shocked fans when they announced their sudden closure after 75 years - with no explanation.
The cosy bakery was a branch of the popular chain Bennetts Family Bakers in Westbourne, Bournemouth.
A handwritten note was taped to the window which read: "This shop will be closing on Sat 8th Feb.
"We would like to thank all customers that have used this shop over the years.
"Thank you, Mr D. Bennett and Mrs. M. R. Bennett."
Locals were sad to see the store pull down its shutters with no explanation as to why.
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It's also unknown what will replace the bakery now that it has waved goodbye forever.
“It’s a real shame, I have been coming here for years. The two ladies were very nice," commented one woman.
Another said: “I think it will be missed here.”
The family-run company began in 1951 after founder Claude Bennett moved from Devon to Poole.
They run several sites across the coast, including Winton, Parkstone, and Broadstone.
This comes as an iconic 120-year-old bakery chain confirmed it will close all stores for good.
The move is set to put 100 people out of work.
Beloved family-run chain Oddie's, founded in 1905, was famed for its freshly-baked loaves and crisp pastry pies.
It has branches across Lancashire - spanning the areas of Burnley, Colne, Foulridge, Nelson, Padiham and Todmorden.
But a spokesperson for the company confirmed to the Sun that all 16 sites closed for the final time on Saturday, January 11.
Elsewhere, another company faced a similar fate amid a sting of closures.
Copland Family Bakers shut the doors to both its stall on Great Yarmouth's market and shop in nearby Gorleston after 57 years.
The Great Yarmouth Mercury reported that a sign posted to the shop said: "We would like to thank all our customers for their continued support and loyalty over these difficult years.
"Unfortunately due to today's continued price rises and economy etc, we have had to close our doors after 57 years of trading."
Meanwhile, one bakery who also bit the bullet pointed the finger of blame at Chancellor Rachel Reeves for their business' demise.
Lancaster’s Bakery in Harrogate, North Yorkshire welcomed in punters for over a century but have pulled the plug following a crippling increase in employer costs.
It follows Reeves' first Budget in October, which was dubbed "the most damaging for independent retailers in recent memory" by the British Independent Retailers Association.
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The Chancellor controversially announced tax rises amounting £40billion - including raising the rate of employer National Insurance contributions.
This, alongside increasing minimum wage, has hiked costs for retailers and led some to raise their prices to absorb the increase.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 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.
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."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has 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."