Scores of shops are set to be shuttered as Claire’s Accessories follows River Island, Fat Face, Hobbycraft, Poundland & countless others which are either in administration or engaging in major restructuring drives under shrewd new ownership, or in their own continuing cost-cutting drives. It has never been tougher to trade profitability via stores.
With many UK consumers struggling financially and worrying about meeting the rising costs of essentials, amid pressing concerns over job security, they are markedly reducing expenditure on the things they can do without. This, in turn, is piling the pressure on retailers who face the impact of diminishing footfall and falling discretionary spending across most categories, whilst overheads soar.
Claire’s Accessories, which has 278 stores in the UK, plus a further 28 in Ireland, as well as concessions in Asda, is now trading under the management of its Interpath Advisory administrators for the foreseeable future, while they seek a buyer for all parts of the business. With over 2,000 jobs at stake, if Interpath fails, then employees will struggle to secure new employment, and store landlords will face difficulties in finding new tenants.
Many retailers are now only renewing the leases of their best-performing stores and quietly closing those which are not profitable. This is leaving increasing levels of vacant premises, further adding to the depressing appearance of many once-flourishing towns and shopping centres.
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