A MAJOR supermarket with over 200 branches will permanently close a beloved branch this Saturday.
Residents were shocked to learn a new supermarket will be taking over the site.
The supermarket facing closure is a Co-op Daily located at Weavers Court in Halstead, Essex.
It will draw its blinds for the final time this Saturday, March 29 at 9pm.
The store notice reads: “We would like to say a huge thank you to you, our members and customers, and to the team at this store for the service they have provided over the years.”
News of the closure came late last year, when The Co-op announced plans for a “portfolio reshape” where it will relocate stores.
Andy Rigby, Acting Chief Executive Officer for the East of England Co-op said: “The letting of our Halstead Supermarket will provide our co-op with secure long term rental income, generating a material increase in profit over the coming years which will support our investment in new stores and facilities.”
However residents will not be left with empty baskets – as a Tesco is set to take over the site’s lease.
A spokesperson for Tesco said: “We’re always looking for the best ways to serve local communities and are excited to be opening a new Tesco Express store in Halstead later this year.
“We will keep the local community updated with our plans as we get closer to opening.”
All Co-op staff members working at the branch have also been offered a role at the new Tesco.
The Co-operative has over 7,000 registered branches owned by 17 million members, and contributes £35 billion annually to the British economy.
Of the East of England Co-operative, there are over 120 food stores across Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire.
While the closure of the Essex store was not caused by economic factors, The Co-op organisation has, like most companies, been hit by the cost of living.
In December last year it was announced 19 Co-operative stores would be shut down across the UK due to “financial sustainability issues”.
The locations, based in various areas around Central England, include Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Norfolk and the West Midlands.
B&M bought three of the 19 stores, while Samy Ltd, a convenience retailer, snapped up 16.
Since then, a Midcounties Co-op in Branbury North Oxfordshire also closed its doors – and was replaced by a convenience store on March 5.
While a store in Honiton, East Devon also bid farewell to its customers on March 15.
And The Co-op is not the only company feeling the bite of significant cost pressures.
Retail woes
In shocking news this week, Morrisons announced it will be shutting down 52 cafes and 17 stores as part of a huge overhaul.
The retailer said 18 Market Kitchens, 13 florists, 35 meat counters, 35 fish counters and four pharmacies will shut.
Rami Baitiéh, chief executive of Morrisons, said aspects of the company which are “uneconomic” need “modernising”.
However, just months ago, Baitiéh slammed upcoming National Insurance and national Minimum wage hikes for rocking businesses.
From next month, businesses will pay a higher rate of NICs of 15%, from 13.8%.
It is understood the upcoming hikes will add around £75million to Morrisons’ costs.
Mr Baitiéh said: “The National Insurance change adds insult to injury.
“The problem is that it’s an avalanche of costs that is coming all at once.”
High street icon Shoe Zone has also levied blame at Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ budget for creating “significant additional costs” for businesses.
The group, which has closed over 50 stores over the last year and now has 297 at risk, cited “unviable” trading costs.
And ahead of today’s National Insurance hike, New Look has ramped up a store closure programme
Approximately a quarter of the retailer’s 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
This equates to about 91 stores, with a significant impact on its 8,000-strong workforce.
If you want to keep up to date with store closures happening in your town you can keep an eye on local Facebook groups.
Branches usually host closing down sales – which you won’t want to miss.
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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