A HUGE homeware chain with 195 stores has abruptly closed a city branch – as shoppers mourn the “end of an era”.
The store has been operating for the last 25 years – but now, the site is up for let.
Magnet in Stoke-on-Trent has closed, with customers advised to instead visit the Stafford branch[/caption]
Kitchen giant Magnet confirmed the closure of its Stoke-on-Trent branch in Staffordshire this week.
A closing notice, left at the location, read: “Our Stoke-on-Trent (base) has now closed permanently.
“But don’t worry we have transferred your account over to our Stafford (base) so you can continue to trade with us.
“We’ll be in touch soon to confirm the details. Thanks for understanding, please speak to the team if you have any questions.”
The reasons behind the closure are not yet known.
The branch, which included a showroom and trade counter, sold a variety of kitchen fittings, furniture and appliances.
The 11,000 sq ft-plot has now been put up for let by commercial property agent Harris Lamb.
The listing on their website reads: “High quality trade counter, production and distribution unit.
“The stand-alone building has high bay LED lighting. The building also benefits from 18 parking spaces and two loading bays.
“Internally the property has toilets and kitchen facilities.”
Magnet was launched in 1918 in Yorkshire – and since then has expanded to almost 200 stores across the UK.
The closure comes after a beloved department store, Sandersons Department Store in Sheffield, announced it would be closing after eight years of business.
The Sun has contacted Magnet for further comment.
MORE SHOP CLOSURES
Plenty of other retailers are closing stores across the high street as households lean more towards online shopping and amid high business rates.
Soaring inflation in recent years has also dented shoppers’ pockets.
The Centre for Retail Research’s latest analysis suggests 13,479 stores, the equivalent of 37 each day, shut for good in 2024.
Of those, 11,341 were independent shops while 2,138 were shut by larger retailers.
The data also showed over half the stores that closed last year were shut due to the store or retailer going through insolvency proceedings.
This is when formal measures are taken to deal with tackling a business‘s debt.
Retailers are shutting stores in 2025 too.
DIY chain Homebase will close 33 stores this month following its administration.
Homebase fell into administration in November, with up to 70 of the struggling DIY chain’s branches bought by CDS Superstores, now trading as Wilko, The Range and Homebase.
But that left around 74 branches at risk of closure if no buyers could be found to take them on.
Teneo has confirmed 13 branches closed last month, including in London, Coventry and Bradford.
Now, the 33 stores shutting this month will bring the total number of closed branches to 52, after six closed before the end of 2024.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
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.”
Professor Bamfield has also 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.”
Sandersons Department Store in Sheffield also announced it would be closing this month (stock photo)[/caption]
