A MAJOR charity retailer is closing two stores in days after shuttering 27 this year.
Scope, which runs shops in England and Wales, is shutting branches in Exmouth and Bury on May 31.
AlamyScope is shutting two of its branches on May 31[/caption]Five other sites have closed this month, including in Blyth, Hove, Burton and Erdington.
Scope has shut 27 stores already this year following a consultation which launched in January.
Once the two in Exmouth and Bury close for good on Saturday, this will rise to a total of 29.
These are the 27 stores that have closed since the start of March:
Amersham Atherstone Barking Bangor Birkenhead Bishop Auckland Blyth Burton Castleford Devizes Dewsbury Eastbourne Erdington Haywards Heath Hove Lewisham New Milton Newport Orpington Parkstone Scunthorpe Shirley (Southampton) Southampton Skipton West Hampstead, London Welling WorkingtonA further six branches have shut this year due their leases ending, however the locations of these stores have not been revealed.
On top of the existing closures, Scope has said a further 35 of its stores will shut, bringing the total number of closures to 70.
It has also confirmed another five shops are set to be close later this year, with a possible further two as well.
This means potentially 77 Scope shops will close.
The locations of these 42 stores or their closure dates are yet to be revealed.
Debbie Boylen, head of retail at Scope, said: “We know our teams put in their very best efforts, but our shops are collectively now losing money when taking account of all of their costs.
“A number make strong profits but there are loss making shops too.
“We never take the decision to close our stores lightly.”
Scope first launched the consultation to close dozens of its stores in January due to declining footfall and spiralling costs.
Chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said external factors had “made trading harder”.
He added: “This situation isn’t confined to Scope. All retailers have been hit with a greater shift to online shopping.
“And we are facing rising rents, soaring energy costs, increased staff costs, and the cost of living squeezing customers.”
Despite its challenges at high street branches, Scope’s online sales have boomed in recent years.
It saw online sales increase by 75% in 2023/24, up £1.2million on the year before.
CHARITY RETAIL SECTOR STRUGGLES
The retail sector has struggled in recent years, particular on the high street as shoppers head online to get their weekly bits.
Households’ budgets have also been squeezed by high inflation and soaring mortgage and rental costs.
The charity retail sector is far from immune from these struggles, with bosses sounding the alarm last month.
In a gloomy post in April, the Charity Retail Association’s (CRA) board of directors said some of its members were reporting the “worst time for trading they have ever encountered”.
The CRA added some of its larger members were considering taking similar action to Scope and cutting down store estates.
“There appears to be a bit of a perfect storm at the moment, with income being relatively flat, and cost pressures being almost unprecedented,” they said.
These cost pressures relate to an increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), the national minimum wage, rental and utility costs and waste disposal costs.
In a recent survey carried out by the CRA of its members, 36% of respondents said they would look to reduce the number of paid staff on their books to tackle these increased costs.
Meanwhile, 21% said they were looking at reducing store trading hours and 27%, over a quarter, stated they may have to close shops.
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