A BELOVED kitchenware store is closing down after serving loyal customers on the high street for 42 years.
Residents in the town were devastated to hear the shop will be drawing its blinds for good this weekend.
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The Kitchen Range in Llandudno, Wales announced it will officially close on Saturday, March 8 — sparking despair amongst locals.
Owner Robin Whitehead said the decision came down to him finally retiring after 42 years operating in the town.
Whitehead, who opened the store in 1983, used to run several businesses in the area.
In January he announced a closing down sale — with there now being only “so little left”.
He added that he would be putting the property up for auction after closing day.
Store manager Janet Gordon told The North Wales Pioneer: “It is time for him to retire now.
“It’s nothing to do with trade – he would’ve carried on going had he been younger.
“It’s purely because he’s retiring and he had a health scare a year ago, so it’s best for him to finish now and enjoy.
“All things come to an end.”
Locals flooded Facebook with emotional messages and support for Robin.
One person called the closure “a great loss for the town and beyond.”
Another wrote: “So sad to see this shop go — happy retirement to Robin.”
A third added: “Just a big thank you to Robin, his late wife and the amazing staff at the Kitchen Range, Llandudno for the wonderful years they have contributed to the town.
“Speciality shops are rare and we’ve lost so many. Wishing them all a happy onward journey.
Although the store didn’t close due to financial difficulty — it follows many similar losses caused by the cost of living and a lack of footfall on the high street.
DIY store Nibletts Mica in Builth Wells, Powys recently announced it will be shutting down when stocks run out.
It told locals the closure had come down to “falling sales and greatly increased costs over recent years intensified by changes to rates and recent NI increases.”
Second hand clothing store The Closet at Harker also drew its blinds at the end of last year.
And all Types Electrical in Rotherham shut for good after over five decades of trade on Christmas Eve.
Trouble on the High Street
Plenty of other retailers are closing stores across the high street as shoppers turn to online browsing and it becomes pricier for businesses to pay costs.
Soaring inflation has also made it harder for households to splash out on shopping.
Analysis by the Centre of Retail Research shows 13,479 stores (37 a day) shut for good in 2024.
11,341 of those were independent shops while 2,138 were shut by larger retailers.
More than half the stores that closed last year came down to the retailer suffering insolvency proceedings.
Many retail giants are shutting stores in 2025 too.
For example, Shoe Zone are have shrunk from around 320 stores in May last year to just 297 — with more closures expected to come.
Anthony Smith, Shoezone’s Chief Executive, said: “Shoezone has experienced very challenging trading conditions, principally a weakening of consumer confidence and unseasonal weather, both of which have decreased revenue and profit.
“Consumer confidence has weakened further following the Government’s budget in October 2024.”
Homebase has also launched closing down sales across the country.
The chain, which has lost 34 branches just this year, fell into administration last month.
Around 70 stores were rescued by CDS Superstores, the owner of The Range and Wilko.
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.”
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