Several more of Britain’s favourite high street shops will close their doors for good this month.
The once-thriving British high streets have been struggling with the dawn of online shopping, rising costs and the coronavirus pandemic.
In September, it was revealed 6,945 shops closed in the first six months of 2024, amounting to an astounding 38 shops per day across the UK.
In November, Decathalon, Co-Op and Wetherspoon will be closing some of their locations – but other shops are opening. We’ve compiled a list for you below.
Homebase
Shoppers hoping for an easy experience finding DIY materials will be saddened to know two branches of Homebase are shutting down in November.
The chain, which sold off Homebase in 2006, has snapped them up in a £130million deal that will see the sites converted into big supermarkets.
In November, the locations in Marsh Mills Retail Park in Plymouth and Southam Road in Banbury will shut, before being transformed into new Sainsbury’s.
Further Homebase locations will shut down in December. For the full list, read here.
Wetherspoon
Those hoping for a tipple while in Leith, Edinburgh will be disappointed to know Wetherspoon’s Foot of the Walk location will shut on November 3.
A spokesperson said: ‘Wetherspoon does, on occasion, sell pubs, and this is the situation here.’
It would appear Wetherspoon is not exempt from the spate of pub closures seen across the UK in recent years.
Real estate intelligence firm Altus Group said the overall number of pubs, including those which were vacant or being offered to let, fell to 39,096 at the end of June.
The figure is down 305 versus the end of 2023, with the pubs either having closed down, been demolished or turned into something else.
Marks and Spencer
The grocery giant’s location in Queensway, Crawley, will shut on November 16 due to ‘changing shopping patterns’ of customers.
It comes as the retailer is slashing the number of these branches – where a selection of clothing, homeware and beauty ranges are on offer alongside food – and increasing the number of food-only stores.
Bosses are aiming to get the number of full-line stores to 180 over the next three years, down from 247 in 2022.
Meanwhile the number of ‘Simply Food’ stores will rise from 316 to 420.
For the full list of all Marks and Spencer locations shutting down this year, read here.
Co-Op
Multiple branches of Co-Op have shut their doors in recent months, and November will be no different.
A 50-year-old Co-Op location in Bridgeway Shopping Centre, Meadows, Nottingham, will shut on November 16.
The lease on the site has expired, the company said, so they are moving out of the neighbourhood.
Locals described the closure as a ‘huge loss’ for the area.
David Cooksy, who has been shopping at the Co-op with his 82-year-old wife Heidi for decades, said: ‘It’s convenient. It’s a convenience store, that’s what it’s called and now it’s not going to be here.
‘It’s always been here. I go back to the 50s in the Meadows and there’s always been a Co-op.’
House of Fraser
Much like Debenhams, House of Fraser has sadly also been hit by closures over the last few years.
On November 27, its Bluewater branch in Kent will become the latest casualty after nearly 25 years operating there.
Most recently, it has seen its branches in Plymouth and Lakeside shut too.
Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce previously warned the departure of House of Fraser could have a negative impact on other traders who benefit from the footfall produced by such a large store.
Chief Executive Tudor Price said: ‘Customers may stop returning once they realise the anchor store is no longer there.’
Decathlon
Decathlon’s Forge Retail Park store in Telford is set to close its doors later today on November 3, just six years after opening.
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