River Island to Shut 33 Stores – Another 70 Could Be Next
- River Island confirms 33 store closures across the UK
- Full list of affected towns and cities revealed
- Up to 70 more branches at risk if landlords won’t budge on rent
- Retailer posted a £33.2 million loss, with sales plummeting nearly 20%
- High street crisis deepens as big names shut doors
River Island has unleashed a retail bombshell, confirming that 33 of its UK stores will close their doors by January 2026 in a desperate move to survive a bruising high street overhaul.
From Beckton to Bangor, shoppers face the grim news that their local branch may be on the chopping block. A further 70 locations are hanging by a thread, with their fate hinging on landlords slashing rents. Only nine shops will continue paying full whack, with most begging for rent cuts of up to 75%.
Ben Lewis, CEO of the fashion chain, admitted that years of online shopping migration and soaring business costs have wreaked havoc on the brand. It posted a staggering £33.2 million pre-tax loss, with revenues nose-diving more than 19% to £578.1 million.
Sam Walker reported in The Sun that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been drafted in to steer River Island out of financial quicksand. The brand, which employs around 5,500 people, hasn’t confirmed how many jobs could be axed.
The closures echo wider turmoil on the high street. Poundland is also shutting dozens of shops, while Hobbycraft and The Original Factory Shop are shrinking their footprint too. The Centre for Retail Research warns the carnage could escalate in 2025, with 17,350 stores predicted to close.
Professor Joshua Bamfield painted a bleak picture: “We’re likely to see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk the discount code platform said, “This is the painful reality of post-pandemic retail. I’ve watched prices rise while footfall falls. My advice? Use discount code apps, shop smart online, and if your local store’s shutting – look for clearance sales. There’s often a silver lining for savvy shoppers.”
The government seems utterly clueless what they are doing. They can see retail is struggling and we need the jobs in the economy and less online sales to big foreign companies like Amazon. It would be clear they need to change taxation to put more taxation on online sales and less on the high street but they have done nothing at all. In fact they have increased national insurance contributions which effects the high street more as more people are employed compared to online warehouses. They have made the situation worse for the high street rather than better. I remember the 70s Labour party who were I would say completely focused on the economy like Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. They were keen to get jobs in the UK. What we have now is utter morons both Labour and Conservative. All they do is keep borrowing and making our problems even worse.