THE Original Factory Shop (TOFS) is shutting more stores starting in weeks with up to 50% off closing down sales launched.
The homeware, electricals and fashion retailer is pulling down the shutters on three branches in England and Wales.
AlamyThree more TOFS shops are shutting[/caption]A shop in Ashbourne, Derbyshire has launched a giant closing down sale with up to 50% off stock.
A second location in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, is shutting, as well as a third in Caernarfon, in Gwynedd, Wales.
The Caernarfon store has also launched a clearance sale to shift any remaining stock.
It is not clear what date the Ashbourne store will shut while it is understood the Bridlington and Caernarfon sites will close on July 20.
Shoppers have reacted with sadness on Facebook after finding out the three stores will shut for good.
One, commenting on the Bridlington closure, said: “God it’s not been open long getting so sick of things closing down.”
A shopper discussing the Ashbourne store closure added: “What a shame, such value for money and a good range of merchandise.”
The latest round of closures comes after TOFS closed eight branches across England and Scotland just yesterday.
Shops in Pershore, Shaftesbury, Kidwelly, Arbroath, Normanton, Chester Le Street, Peterhead and Perth all closed for good.
These closures came after a branch in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, shut on Thursday (June 26).
Four more stores in Staveley, Cupar (Fife), Middlewich and Heswall are set to close later this year as well.
The Sun asked TOFS to comment.
TOFS RESTRUCTURING EFFORT
Private equity firm Modella bought The Original Factory Shop back in February and has since launched a restructuring effort to renegotiate rents at 88 stores.
Modella is known for picking up struggling retailers, having also recently acquired Hobbycraft and WHSmith‘s high street shops.
At the end of April, Modella drew up plans to initiate a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for TOFS.
Companies often use CVAs to prevent insolvency, which could otherwise result in store closures or the collapse of the entire business.
They allow firms to explore different strategies such as negotiating reduced rent rates with landlords.
TOFS previously told The Press and Journal that a “number of loss-making stores will have to close” as part of the restructuring.
However, it is not clear if the three branches in Ashbourne, Bridlington and Caernarfon are closing as part of this restructuring effort.
HIGH STREET STRUGGLES
TOFS is not the only retailer struggling on the high street amid the surge of online shopping and weaker household budgets.
Hobbycraft shut nine stores on June 21 after launching closing down sales.
Dobbies has also closed a slew of garden centres across the UK this year.
The Centre for Retail Research is predicting more than 17,000 retail shops will shut in 2025 too.
The centre has forecast a rise in closures after a hike to employer National Insurance contributions and the national minimum wage which took effect in April.
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 showed that more than half of companies planned to raise prices by early April.
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.”
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