A BELOVED bargain shop chain is set to pull the shutters down one of its stores in just days.
The Original Factory Shop has announced the closure of another of its locations.
The discounter is pulling the plug on its branch in Haverfordwest, Wales on December 14, The Pembrokeshire Herald reported.
Bosses thanked locals for their support over the years.
In a post, it said: “We take this opportunity to thank all of the local community and our store colleagues for their support throughout our time here in Haverfordwest.”
The announcement marks the end of an era for a store that has been part of the town’s retail landscape for many years.
Former employee Nigel Shinner opened up on the store’s “sad” shuttering.
He said: “I know there are sadder things happening in the world today, but this makes me sad. This was my point of entry into The Original Factory Shop family.
“I joined as just a weekender, while I was raising my kids, but it wasn’t long before I became a supervisor and farmed out to help at other stores.
“I really stepped up a notch when my life took a turn, and I became Head Office staff and part of the new store merchandising team, often working ten-hour days, unloading wagons, building equipment, dressing stores, and training staff.
“That job took me far and wide, from Land’s End to John O’Groats, from east coast to west, and to many locations across the home nations.”
Other The Original Factory Shop closures
The store closure is not the only one to be announced by The Original Factory Shop this year either.
It has already pulled the shutters down on seven sites in recent months:
- Brightlingsea, Essex
- Bodmin, Cornwall
- Chepstow, Wales
- Fakenham, Norfolk
- Harwich, Essex
- Mildenhall, Suffolk
- Padiham, Lancashire
- Taunton, Somerset
It comes after the retailer, known for selling everything from clothing to homeware and stationery, shut a number of branches last year.
But it’s not all bad news, as it has been opening stores across the UK too, as it shakes up its presence on the high street.
The full list of stores that have opened since August 2023 includes:
- Kirkintilloch – opened August 24
- Stonehaven – opened August 31
- Blandford Forum – opened August 31
- Haddington – opened September 7
- Wetherby – opened September 7
- Nairn – opened September 14
- Ashbourne – opened September 14
- Castle Douglas – opened September 21
- Penrith – opened September 21
- Inverness – opened September 28
- Attleborough – opened September 28
- Ayr – opened October 5
- Ringwood – opened October 5
- Perth – opened October 12
- Lanark – opened October 19
- Peterhead – opened October 26
Retail woes
Other retailers, such as Boots, and Clarks, have been reducing the number of their high-street branches.
Rising rents, energy bills, and the cost of living have also caused many retailers to fail.
Several big retailers have fallen into administration in the past year, including Wilko, Paperchase, and most recently, The Body Shop and Ted Baker.
The Body Shop collapsed into administration on February 13, putting its almost 198 branches at risk of closure.
Since then, it has closed down 82 locations.
However, it’s not all bad news for the high street, as several other retailers and hospitality venues have plans to expand.
Beer giant Heineken announced plans to invest £39million to help reopen 62 previously shuttered British pubs.
Meanwhile, Aldi has announced that it will open 35 new UK stores.
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.
