Major retailer with 1,100 branches to shut ANOTHER shop as 18 set to close for good

A MAJOR retailer with 1,100 branches to shut another shop as 18 stores are set to close for good.

WH Smith has confirmed yet another closure after revealing 17 stores would shut for good in the coming months.

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Its branch on Powis Street in Woolwich is now the latest to be marked for closure, with the store shutting up shop for good in April

The stationery and sweet shop has been on the south-east London high street for almost two decades, first opening in 2008.

Customers have branded the closure a “shame”, with many saying there would be “no shops left” in the area.

One disgruntled customer said: “Another nail in the coffin, as if there was anything left anyway; it’s been a ghost town for years.”

“Yet another decent shop closes in Woolwich,” said another.

A spokesperson for the branch told The Sun it was “disappointed” to be losing its presence in the area.

They said: “It is no longer sustainable to continue to trade from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.”

A Post Office branch located within the branch could also face closure.

A vacancy has been advertised on the runapostoffice.co.uk website in an effort to save the branch.

As for WH Smith, it already has plans to close another branch in Bournemouth in the New Year.

It said that it would be closing its Winton branch in Bournemouth, Dorset on February 15.

It comes after the retailer, whose stores are a regular fixture in airports around the world, closed its Boscombe branch in the same town in June.

WHSmith has also closed down several stores outside Bournemouth this year, including in Bolton, Lancashire.

WHSmith is focusing on the travel side of its business where sales are growing.

In an update this year to investors, the retailer said it’s on track to open 15 stores this year, with a further 15 to follow “each year over the medium term”.

The retailer said it would be moving away from its high-street stores and has no plans to open any more.

Now a total of 18 sites have been confirmed for closure this year, following a number of closures last year.

Here is the full list of WHSmith closures taking place in 2025 so far:

• Bournemouth Old Christchurch Road, Dorset – January 18
• Luton, Bedfordshire – January 18
• March, Cambridgeshire – January 25
• Basingstoke, Hampshire – February 1
• Newtown, Powys – February 15
• Winton branch in Bournemouth, Dorset – February 15
• Rhyl, Denbighshire – February 15
• Bolton, Greater Manchester – February
• Accrington, Lancashire – March 15
• Halstead, Essex – April
• Halesowen, West Midlands – April
• Diss, Norfolk – April
• Newport, Wales – April
• Haverhill, Suffolk – April 26
• Woolwich – April
• Stockton, County Durham – May
• Oldham, Greater Manchester – May
• Orpington, Greater London – no date given yet

TROUBLE ON THE HIGH STREET

Just this month, bosses at a number of prominent retailers have revealed plans to cut stores from their estates.

Garden centre giant Dobbies closed 12 of its stores before Christmas to help shore up extra costs following a restructuring plan.

Meanwhile, Homebase has confirmed that six of its sites will close before the end of the year.

These include sites in Sutton Coldfield, Bromsgrove, Cromer, Fareham, Newark and Rugby.

Three more Homebase sites in Derry, Inverurie, and Omagh are also set to close in the coming months, along with a branch in Glenrothes near Fife.

The garden and homeware retailer crashed into administration last month, but around 70 stores were rescued by CDS Superstores, the owner of The Range and Wilko.

At the time it entered administration, Homebase operated 141 stores.