A MAJOR fashion retailer with 180 UK stores has confirmed it will shut one of its ‘favourite’ shops in just days.
The store creates product ranges across women’s, men’s, kids, footwear and accessories.
A major fashion retailer with 180 UK stores has confirmed it will shut one of its ‘favourite’ shops in just days[/caption]
FatFace in Peterborough is closing and shoppers have been left feeling disappointed[/caption]
The outdoor-inspired clothing retailer FatFace has revealed that its store in Queensgate Shopping Centre will close permanently on June 15.
A notice in the shop window states: “Thank you for shopping in our Peterborough store.
“Our last day here is 15 June 2025.”
The closure comes 20 months after FatFace, which was founded in 1988, was acquired by the leading clothing retailer Next, headquartered in Leicester.
FatFace announced a pre-tax loss of £3.2 million last October, which was in part attributed to costs related to the acquisition.
Sharing the news on the We Love Peterborough Facebook group, shoppers reacted to the closure.
The post said: “I have to say it’s shame to see that Fat Face will be closing down in Queensgate.
“After speaking with someone in the store for confirmation, I’m afraid that they are not moving to an alternative location either, they are closing permanently for us.
“Is this a shop that you shopped in? If you want anything, you’ll need to get it quick as it closed in a couple of week’s time.”
Members of the group were quick to comment and one replied: “Another decent store closing, might as well knock Queensgate down, just not worth going into town these days.”
Another disappointed shopper added: “Queensgate is doomed.
“First John Lewis then M&S , there’s nothing left there now.
“They should have left flagship stores alone. It used to be a good place.
“The whole city feels tawdry and dirty. I don’t go there anymore.”
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.”
Another added: “I absolutely love this shop! I’ll be sad to see it go, a real shame and another loss for Peterborough shipping centre.”
“I only go into Queensgate to get my nails done and pop in Fatface. I’m really sad it’s closing. Nowhere to get clothes for my age now,” said another.
“Another one bites the dust sadly. Love fatface,” said a fifth dissapointed shopper.
While another poster wrote: “Fat Face have also closed in various locations from Aberdeen to Sheffield to Gloucester this year.
“Anyone thinking retail clothes stores closing is just a Peterborough thing is sadly mistaken. Same happened with John Lewis and Marks and Spencer on a bigger scale.
“We have a new occupant imminently for the old John Lewis store, and new shops like Sostrene Greene that people can’t find it in themselves to be positive about, it’s easier to moan I guess.”
The news comesafter IKEA revealed yesterday that it is shutting another UK store in just a fortnight’s time after ‘lessons learned’ amid a customer backlash.
And that a major high street name is pulling the plug on one of its stores in just two weeks.
It’s already slashing prices by up to 70% to clear the shelves.
