Supermarket chain with 300 stores launching closing down sale ahead of shutting popular site this weekend
Published: Invalid Date,
A POPULAR supermarket chain is launching a huge closing-down sale this weekend, as it shuts one of its 300 high street stores.
The budget foodstore has been providing shoppers with bargains in the busy shopping precinct for over two decades.
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Farmfoods, in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, is closing its doors for the final time this Sunday, June 22, with the remaining stock being sold off at a reduced price.
Shoppers have been left devastated by the news, which marks another blow for the high street.
Posting in the Ilkeston Life Facebook group, one person said of the Scottish store, which was founded in 1954.
"A blow for savvy Ilkeston shoppers - Farmfoods in the precinct is closing.
"It will be missed by many people, and the pleasant, helpful staff will be out of a job.
"Shops like this are a lifeline to many folk."
The post was flooded with comments from locals, sharing their sadness at the loss.
A second person said: "It will be a sad day to see another shop closing.
"It always seems to be busy though so it makes no sense."
NatWest to close 53 bank branches in fresh blow to UK high street – see if your local is affected
A third person added: "Oh what a shame, it will be sorely missed."
This follows the news that Poundland has confirmed plans to shut 68 stores, with up to 150 at risk of closure.
The struggling discount chain was sold for just £1 last week and it was expected a major shake-up would be needed to rescue it.
Poundland has now announced a huge series of changes aimed at keeping itself afloat - although these will need to be approved by the High Court in August.
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."
They include ditching its frozen food items, getting rid of its loyalty scheme app and no longer selling products online.
The Original Factory Shop has also recently launched another closing-down sale as the brand pulls the shutters on another store.
The discount department store has slashed the prices on everything, from clothing to gardening tools to toys.
Clothing rails have been tagged with percentage-off signs as high as 30 per cent off.
And a major DIY retailer has launched a huge closing-down sale as it prepares to close one of its branches in weeks.
The Hobbycraft store in Imperial Park, Bristol, has confirmed that it will close its doors for good on June 21.
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