Poundland Announces Further Store Closures
Poundland has announced another wave of winter store closures as part of its new owners’ turnaround efforts. Another 14 stores will close by early February, adding to the 19 already scheduled to close in the coming months.
Store Closure Details
By early next year, the budget chain will have closed more than 100 stores following its launch of a restructuring program. Clearance sales have been launched at stores facing closure, with discounts of up to 40% on a wide range of stock. Poundland has already announced that a further 40 stores would sell off their goods before the closure.
Restructuring Efforts
This was in addition to the 57 stores that had already closed at the end of September as Poundland targeted its least profitable stores. The UK chain is expected to be reduced from around 800 stores at the start of the restructuring program to between 650 and 700 once the process is complete.
Background
Poundland was sold to investment firm Gordon Brothers for £1 in June. The company avoided filing for bankruptcy after a restructuring plan was approved by the Supreme Court in August, days before the company was set to run out of cash. Since then, recovery efforts have focused on simplifying the business, including closing stores and returning to a £1, £2 and £3 grocery pricing structure across all UK stores.
Response from Poundland
Darren MacDonald, Poundland’s UK country manager, said the company knew "how disappointing it is when we leave a store, but before we close our doors for the final time, we are determined to say goodbye by offering customers even more amazing value." “The special discounts, in addition to the benefits we offer in each store, will help us leave the locations we leave with pride,” he added. “And as we close our doors, we look forward to welcoming customers to one of the hundreds of Poundland stores we will continue to operate across the UK.”
List of Store Closures
The following stores are scheduled to close:
- Lancaster, Lancashire – December 19th
- Northampton Sixfields, Northamptonshire – December 31st
- Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset – December 24th
- Hammersmith, Greater London – December 24th
- Prestatyn, Denbighshire – December 31st
- Faversham, Kent – January 6th
- Liverpool, Merseyside – January 15th
- Yeovil, Somerset – January 16th
- Nottingham Eastpoint, Nottinghamshire – January 22nd
- Lymington, Hampshire – January 23rd
- Christchurch (47 High Street), Dorset – January 23rd
- Bristol Avon Meads, Bristol – January 29th
- Winton, Dorset – February 6th
- Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland – February 8th
Additional Store Closures
The following stores are still scheduled to close:
- Christchurch (Meteor Retail Park), Dorset – December 5th
- Arnold, Nottinghamshire – December 6th
- Worthing, West Sussex – December 6th
- Droitwich, Worcestershire – December 9th
- Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland – December 13th
- Oldham, Greater Manchester – December 13th
- Weston Favell, Northamptonshire – December 19th
- Portishead, Somerset – December 24th
- Grantham, Lincolnshire – December 24th
- Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland – December 31st
- Farnham, Surrey – December 31st
- Brighton, East Sussex – December 31st
- Hempstead Valley, Kent – December 31st
- Bexhill, East Sussex – January 5th
- Ponders End, Greater London – January 5th
- Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland – January 5th
- Mitcham, Greater London – January 14th
- Cameron Toll, Edinburgh, Scotland – January 20th
