A massive chain of DIY stores has given shoppers a new blow as it revealed three big stores are closing within weeks. Homebase said three of its major outlets will shut down before the end of the year. The news comes as another piece of bad news for the retail industry which has seen a string of announcements where big chains have admitted many shops are closing. Recently we have seen announcements and shutdowns from Boots, Next, Iceland, Wilko and New Look among others. It was already known that Plymouth’s Homebase inside the large Marsh Mills Retail Park was going - it was revealed this week. But now Homebase has confirmed that the Finchley Road and Banbury stores will shut later this year. In a s tatement to PlymouthLive , the company said: “We’ll be closing our Plymouth Marsh Mills store in November, an exact date is yet to be confirmed.” Homebase bosses have confirmed that their store on Southam Road in Banbury will shut next month too. The Finchley Road store in
London is to be closed too, it can be revealed on December 10. The chain’s owner shut 42 outlets in 2018. After the Banbury closure was announced shoppers were horrified. On
Facebook Colin Aries said: “Yet another store closing. Yet another victim of capitalism. Where’s this prosperous World that capitalism is supposed to create?” Gizella Parker added: “I’m gutted. Really good for gardening products and plants.” Shen Jieh Gan said: “Everything is closing and worse is yet to come.” Speaking about the Plymouth closure Hannah Marie said: “I hope all the staff find something soon. They’re really good at their jobs and every time we go in they’re friendly and helpful. Horrible to lose your
Job right before
Christmas .” Paul Speare said: “Another shop to go just like all the rest.” It comes after the retailer shut its Newport store in South Wales on September 8. Homebase has closed 93 stores since it was taken over by Hilco Capital in 2018. Hilco bought the hardware store chain for £1 from
Australian firm Wesfarmers, which paid £340million for what has been dubbed one of the “most disastrous takeovers ever seen”. Prior to the Hilco takeover, Homebase had 250 stores at its peak and 12,000 staff. A raft of Boots store closures have been taking place this month in what is a sign of troubled times on the high street. The chain has joined a number of others in shutting down branches around the country and has admitted around 300 will go over the next year or so. Next has announced it is set to close 11 more stores this year. The clothing giant has not released the locations of those at risk but bosses say three of them are due to close because they cannot reach an agreement with their landlords. Wilko fell into administration last month and at the time of its collapse it had more than 400 shops and employed around 12,500 people. Administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers were unable to find a buyer for the entirety of the Wilko estate, so stores started to close last week. Poundland had agreed to take on the leases of up to 71 sites with B&M taking on 51 more.