A MAJOR high street retailer with more than 300 branches is closing one of its long-running stores in just days, as a final clearance sale continues.
The Trespass store in Aylesbury, located in the Friars Square Shopping Centre, will shut for good on May 18.
The shop is one of several across the country being axed by the outdoor clothing brand, which is scaling back due to falling customer numbers.
In 2023, Trespass confirmed six closures, and by 2024, at least 12 more shops had shut, including sites in Coventry, Norwich, and Middlesbrough, the latter of which had only opened two years earlier.
Shoppers in Aylesbury have seen ‘closing down’ and ‘everything must go’ signs posted in the shop window in recent weeks, sparking disappointment from loyal customers.
The store has been a fixture in the town for years and is often one of the first shops visitors see when entering from the shopping centre’s car park.
Staff have been praised for their helpfulness, with one online reviewer calling them “great” and the products “top quality”.
Local shoppers have described the closure as a loss, especially for those needing affordable outdoor wear.
One said: “It’s a shame – we’ve bought hiking gear and waterproofs here for years. Not sure where we’ll go now.”
While some believe high street closures like this are now expected, others still express frustration at how quickly long-standing shops are disappearing.
Trespass has not confirmed whether the closure is part of a lease expiry, cost-cutting plan, or both.
However, similar cases across the UK have seen stores shut amid rising business rates and increasing pressure on employers.
It’s not the only location hit.
In Ipswich, the Trespass shop on Westgate Street has repeatedly put up ‘closing down’ posters, most recently this month, prompting debate among locals over whether it’s genuinely closing or simply using a tactical sales approach.
The Aylesbury branch, however, appears to be the real deal.
Staff have reportedly told customers the final day of trading will be this Sunday, with all remaining stock being cleared out at discounted prices.
This closure comes during a rough patch for British retail.
Other high street names like Sports Direct, New Look, and WHSmith have also shut stores or announced downsizing in recent months.
According to the British Retail Consortium, a mix of higher running costs, tax changes, and increased National Insurance contributions are placing a £2.3 billion burden on the retail sector, pushing more shops off the high street.
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.”
