Major high street brand with 700 stores to shut two ‘excellent’ branches in days
The centre’s director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is “less bad” than good.Someone else commented: “It’s a competitive market they’re in with supermarkets, Superdrug, Boots, Amazon and eBay all selling similar stuff, usually cheaper.


A MAJOR high street brand with 700 branches in the country is shutting two stores in days, leaving shoppers disappointed.Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023’s biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.Some chains have faced tougher conditions though, forcing them to shut dozens of stores, or all of them in the worst case.“Being on every high street, we are ideally placed within the community to support and help add quality years to life and truly champion wellness for all women.
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The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.”Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.Lina Chan, Women’s Health Director at Holland & Barrett, said: “Women’s health has been under-served for too long.
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A spokesperson for Holland and Barrett told The Sun that the closures are part of a “location review”.The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
They added: “We look forward to welcoming our customers from our other locations soon. The Chard store will close on Wednesday, August 14, and after that date the closest location for customers will be Honiton, East Devon, which is 13.5 miles away.The company has confirmed its shops in Chard, Somerset, and Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, will be closing their doors over the next two weeks.The company is committing to helping women understand their hormone health better in order to relieve symptoms of PMS, menopause and pregnancy, or simply understand themselves more.The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.”That’s just the way it is.”However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.It comes against a backdrop of woeful education – and information – about women’s hormone health over their lifetime.Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
Why are retailers closing stores?
Other examples of one-off rather than widespread closures is if there are changes in the area, such as a shopping centre closing, and in some cases a shop will close to relocate to another area.The shop in Frinton-on-Sea will shut on Wednesday, August 21, with the closest store located 7.35 miles away, in Clacton-on-Sea.“Our new long-term commitment will start by empowering women to understand their hormones, so they are in control of their marvellous bodies. “Holland and Barrett aren’t the cheapest so folks go elsewhere.One replied: “This is sad, I worked there when it first opened.”Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
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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.Earlier this year, H&B announced it would introduce a Women’s Health Coach to 600 of its 800 UK stores.

“By proactively engaging with our hormone health we can also better understand gynaecological conditions, fertility and the menopause as hormones sit at the core of these various life transitions where women can experience severe symptoms.”It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.