A MAJOR high street retailer is set to shut down a much-loved branch in a central city location within weeks.
Local residents were saddened to hear that the store will close its doors for good in the new year.
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Shoe giant Deichmann has confirmed it will say goodbye to its branch in Newport city centre on January 11.
After 17 years in the Welsh city the store will draw its blinds for the last time after running its normal trading hours.
The German company, which has approximately 4,600 branches, told The Sun: “We can confirm that we are sadly closing our store on Commercial Street in Newport on Saturday 11th January 2025 after trade.”
Speaking to the South Wales Argus, store manager Tobias Cordus said he had been informed of the news weeks ago.
He said: “We still have the sale items from Black Friday and other sale stock.
“These items will stay on sale at 50% off.”
But despite the tempting offer of sales, locals were only saddened by the news.
The closure will mean a significant blow to jobs and signals another major loss for the high street.
Local resident Russel Jones told the Argus: “Another one going from the town in 48 hours shutting shop.”
While someone commented on Facebook: “Newport is going to be like, Ebbw Vale, a ghost town.”
Another replied: “Such a shame.”
While one user said: “Yet another shop closing in Newport. It has stopped being affordable.”
A fourth wrote: “It’s being made into flats apparently.”
However, the reason for the closure is officially unknown.
It has also not been publicly confirmed what will replace the store when it’s gone.
The decline of the high street is a problem for Newport city centre as well as many other cities and towns.
Beloved stores which have left Commercial Street include the old department store Wildings and a tech store called Arnold’s.
In the last year, it has lost big names such as B&M and Shoezone, as well as Wilko when it was previously pushed into administration.
It comes as more people take to online shopping decreasing the amount of footfall, as well as business owners struggling to keep up with constant rent hikes.
Deichmann employs 48,000 people in countries across Europe and is not believed to be suffering a widespread issue.
However, if you’re unsure whether your local Deichmann is still operating you can go on its website and use the Store Locator tool.
This will show all the stores which are in your vicinity.
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. 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.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase 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.
Some UK companies have been completely forced into administration due to rising rent prices, declining high streets and the cost of living.
For example, Hilco announced last month that it had been looking to sell struggling retailer Homebase but had not managed to find a buyer.
Over 2,000 jobs are at risk as closing down sales spring up in shops across the country.
Shoppers have also complained orders are not arriving ahead of Christmas as the retailer grapples with diminishing staff and funds.
To find out if a Homebase is closing near you, use the Store Locator tool on its website.
Or, to keep updated on all closures in your area, it’s always handy to keep an eye on local Facebook pages.
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