"Over Christmas, thousands of people must have had much the same experience: a trip to see friends or relatives somewhere familiar, and the realisation that a once-thriving town centre is dangerously close to the economic point of no return, and a future of eerie silence. The massed emptying-out of places has been going on since the crash of 2008, but the latest chapter of the story is dramatic."
"In 2024, the UK lost about 37 shops a day: almost 13,500 retail stores closed for good including branches of Lloyds Pharmacy, The Body Shop and Ted Baker which was a rise of 28% on 2023. What we know so far about 2025 is of a piece: thousands of shops owned by major retail businesses closed their doors, and the list is full of equally familiar names among them Fired Earth, New Look and the beauty chain Bodycare."
"Even some of the high street's staples are on their way out, as evidenced by the closure of Poundland shops, and news that even charities are leaving: Cancer Research UK, for example, plans to close about 90 of its shops by May, with up to 100 more to go by April next year. Ghostly memorials to past closures remain empty: witness the huge buildings that are still vacant after the implosion of Debenhams in 2021."
Thousands of familiar town-centre shops have closed, leaving many centres near economic collapse and eerily silent. The mass emptying accelerated after 2008 and intensified in 2024, when the UK lost about 37 shops daily — almost 13,500 permanent closures, a 28% rise on 2023, including well-known chains. The trend continued in 2025 with further major-brand closures. Even discount and charity shops are withdrawing, with Cancer Research UK planning substantial shop cuts. Large vacant buildings remain from prior collapses such as Debenhams. Long-established independent businesses, like HJ Knees after nearly 150 years, have shut due to online shopping, rising business rates, and limited support.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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