A MAJOR fashion chain will shut a popular high street store with hundreds more at risk of closing.
A retail park has confirmed it will be saying goodbye to this site favourite at the end of next month.
New Look is going through major restructuring leaving hundreds of stores at risk of shutting[/caption]
Preston’s New Look will close its door for good on March 20[/caption]
New Look in Preston will close on March 20, leaving shoppers having to look elsewhere for the latest fashion.
The brand will close its doors at St George’s Shopping Centre after multiple site closures across the country.
In the store window, the retailer popped up a sign reading: “Preston St George, thanks for having us. But it’s time to say goodbye.
“This store will be closing on Thursday 20th March.”
Customers were then offered a QR code taking them to the New Look website to scour the shop online.
Shoppers were told this was the alternative if you want a “feel-good fashion fix, 24/7.”
At the beggining of the year New Look revealed they would “accelerate future store closures” as each branches lease expires, according to The Times.
This was primarily due to tax spikes looming ahead after Rachel Reeves released the Autumn budget.
There are warnings that a quarter of all the chain stores could be scrapped – which is around 91 branches.
New Look fans in Ireland were gutted to hear that 26 stores would be shutting in the region with far more remaining at risk of vanishing.
Other stores that have got the axe include one in Porth branch in Rhondda Cynon Taf and two in Gateshead.
New Look confirmed the latter with a Facebook post reading: “CLOSING DOWN SALE ALERT!
“It’s time for BIG savings at New Look Team Valley! We’re saying goodbye on March 9th, and everything must go! Tops for just £3! Dresses for only £5! Bottoms for £7! And SO MUCH MORE!
“Hurry in before it’s all gone! Don’t miss out on the biggest bargains of the year! Sale ends March 9th! See you there!”
The St Austell branch in Cornwall is set to shut on March 4, putting up farewell signs reading: “It’s time to say goodbye.”
Other branches that have already disappeared include the Carillon Court Shopping Centre site, the Wickford branch, and the Bracknell store.
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT NEW LOOK
The popular fashion brand is implementing a programme before April’s National Insurance increase.
This new plan will put a quarter of New Looks branches are closing for good after their lease expires.
Approximately 91 sites will be impacted which will have a knock-on effect to the staff, plunging 8,000 employees into potential job insecurity.
This isn’t the first time New Look shaken up its portfolio of UK stores, with 600 being scrapped in 2018.
The company has restructured its store estate twice in the past six years, reducing its portfolio from around 600 UK stores in 2018.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
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.”
Professor Bamfield has also 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.”
HISTORY OF NEW LOOK
FOUNDED in 1969 by Tom Singh with a modest loan of £5,000 from his parents, the first shop opened in Taunton, Somerset.
Singh’s vision was simple but revolutionary: to offer the latest fashion trends at accessible prices.
This focus on “fast fashion” proved a winning formula, propelling the brand’s rapid growth throughout the following decades.
By the 1990s, New Look had expanded significantly, growing from 200 to an impressive 1,000 stores.
This period saw the introduction of new lines, including menswear, teen, and maternity wear, further broadening the brand’s appeal.
Embracing the digital age, New Look launched its online store in 2007, bringing its trendy offerings to an even wider audience.
The brand’s success wasn’t confined to the UK. New Look expanded internationally, establishing a presence in numerous countries across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
At its peak, the company boasted over 900 stores internationally and employed over 18,000 staff.
New Look’s ownership structure has also evolved over the years. In 2004, the company went private, with founder Tom Singh, chief executive Phil Wrigley, and private equity investors taking the reins.
In 2015, South African investment firm Brait SE acquired a 90% stake in New Look for £780 million, with the Singh family and management retaining the remaining 10%.
Tom Singh himself announced his departure from the company in 2019, marking the end of an era for the brand he buil
