A SHOE chain is set to shut one of its branches in weeks after 60 years of business.
A. G. Meek will permanently close its store on Eastgate Street, Gloucester, early next month, in a blow for the high street.
A G Meek will close its branch in Gloucester in early April[/caption]
It will leave the small retail chain with just four sites, all of which are based in Wales.
Owner David Meek said the Gloucester city centre store was shutting due to the upcoming hike on employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), a reduction in business rate relief and lower footfall.
From next month, employer NICs will rise from 13.8% to 15% and the threshold at which they are paid lowered to £5,000 from £9,100.
Meanwhile, an existing discount on retail business rates will fall from 75% to 40%.
Posting on Facebook, Mr Meek said: “We have been struggling with rapidly rising costs and reduced footfall since the pandemic and the shop has not been covering its costs.
“I have held off hoping things would improve, but the recent budget is a disaster for small businesses employing lots of part time staff like ours.
“Our national insurance on one shop and our business rates are increasing by £5,000 a year each from April and this is unsustainable.”
Stock at the Gloucester branch has been massively reduced ahead of its closure, with discounts available on a range of branded footwear.
Customers making a purchase can also get a £10 voucher to use on the A. G. Meek website or at the retailer’s other branches in south Wales.
News of the closure has also spread on Facebook, with shoppers and local expressing their dismay.
One said: “This is a sad day. I love the shoes that you sell. And the brands that you carry are just lush.”
Another said: “This is so sad to read as your business is part of the fabric of Gloucester’s history.
“Sorry to hear your (sic) closing. I wish you all the best for the future.”
A third commented: “I am very sorry to hear this..you are a great store and a landmark of Gloucester.”
Meanwhile, a fourth added: “So sorry to hear this. It is certainly a tough time for small businesses.”
A.G. Meek opened its first store in Cardiff in 1912, and shot to local popularity in the 1950s with the launch of “Meek’s Sets” – shoe, bag and glove bundles.
INDEPENDENT RETAILERS STRUGGLE
Small businesses have struggled in recent years in the face of changing shopper behaviour and reduced footfall to stores.
The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) said 2024 was of the most challenging years for shop owners.
Andrew Goodacre, chief executive officer, said: “Consumer spending on non-food items has declined significantly, while persistent footfall problems and fragile consumer confidence have impacted high streets nationwide.”
Mr Goodacre added smaller businesses were struggling in an “increasingly competitive” market, with larger chains able to massively discount stock, and for longer periods.
The Centre for Retail Research said 13,479 high street stores closed for good in 2024, made up of 11,341 independents.
The centre said it expects 14,660 independent retailers to shutter this year due to the hikes to employer NICs and national minimum wage from April.
The independent retail sector has also been hit with an increase in in-store crime.
BIRA’s latest survey revealed 78% of businesses had been targeted by thefts in the past 12 months and that the frequency and severity of theft incidents had risen.
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.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, 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.
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.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko 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.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
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