A MAJOR chain of charity shops has shut down a total of 39 locations today.
The closures were first announced in January as part of a move that could see 138 of the brand's stores ceasing operation.
Disability charity Scope, which has locations in England and Wales, revealed they have been struggling financially.
Bosses explained the chain has experienced declining footfall and increasing costs, including higher rents as well as staff costs and energy bills.
Chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said the decisions was made “to ensure our funds are best focused upon our charitable purpose”.
He went on to say that Scope would continue to close some of their shops over the next 15 months.
The stores which closed today include:
- Amersham
- Bangor
- Barking
- Beckenham
- Bexhill
- Bishop Auckland
- Bridgwater
- Castleford
- Christchurch
- Cambourne
- Devizes
- Dewsbury
- Eastbourne
- Ely
- Gillingham HS
- Halstead
- Haywards Heath
- Hertford
- Hinckley
- Kendal
- Lewisham
- Llandudno
- March
- Mitcham
- Morley
- New Milton
- Nuneaton
- Oadby
- Orpington
- Parkstone
- Petersfield
- Rochdale
- Scarborough
- Scunthorpe
- Shirley (Southampton)
- Skipton
- Stourbridge
- Wednesbury
- Welling
A further 31 Scope shops are at risk of permanent closure between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
Another five shops are expected to close their doors when their leases come up for renewal.
Scope previously closed at least 22 under-performing shops, including its locations in Haywards Heath and Southampton.
However, all it's not all bad news as a Scope location in Pwllheli, northwest Wales was saved after previously being set for closure.
What's happening to the high street?
UK high streets have been declining for some time.
In 2024, the equivalent of about 37 shops shut each day, according to analysis by the Centre for Retail Research.
The rise in online shopping and increased costs for businesses have been named among the reasons for this decline.
As well as having to pay more for energy and rent, business rates are also increasing.
Decreased footfall has also been an issue as shoppers spend less due to soaring inflation.
Numerous big high street chains have been closing stores this year.
New Look ramped up a store closure programme ahead of the upcoming National Insurance hike.
Around a quarter of the retailer's 364 locations are at risk when their leases expire.
Fashion chain Select also shut down 35 of its stores earlier this month.
The remaining 48 stores had also been set to close, but a mystery business stepped in to save them.
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 halfofcompanies 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, withworse 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.”
