February has seen a wave of high-street shake-ups, with a number of well-known retailers saying retailer closures throughout the UK.
A contemporary wave of retailer closures has hit UK excessive streets this month, with main retailers together with Shoe Zone. With rising prices, weaker client demand, and difficult buying and selling situations, companies proceed to face the stress of protecting afloat.
Customers throughout the nation might discover fewer high-street choices as these closures take impact. From clothes shops to homeware and leisure, right here is the complete checklist of each retailer closing this 12 months. Is your city on the checklist?
Three shops set to shut (Picture: Getty)
GAME
GAME, which sells video video games, consoles, equipment, and gaming merchandise, has entered administration once more, having beforehand gone via the method in 2012. The corporate was rescued in 2019 in a £52 million deal by Mike Ashley’s Sports activities Direct, later rebranded as Frasers Group.
The corporate has steadily decreased its high-street presence however will proceed working via roughly 200 concession retailers inside Frasers Group shops, together with Sports activities Direct and Home of Fraser areas. It hasn’t been confirmed precisely when GAME’s ultimate shops will shut, however these are the areas:
- Merry Hill, Dudley
- Nicholas Arcade, Lancaster
- Instances Sq. Buying Centre, Sutton
Chatting with Video games Trade.biz, managing director Nick Arran mentioned: “Gaming is our core enterprise, and we would be the final man standing promoting bodily video video games. We see our place available in the market as proving that there’s a place for bodily, whether or not that be the collector’s editions, which we see because the vinyl of video video games, or the gifter who does not wish to wrap up a obtain code for Christmas.
“However we must be reasonable. We have now a enterprise to run, and the expectation is that this may decline. So we have to fill that hole. Anticipate extra areas from us. We’re always in talks with Frasers Group about the place we may open up extra concessions.”
River Island introduced the closure of 32 of its outlets final month resulting from a restructuring plan designed to handle ongoing monetary difficulties. River Island operates greater than 200 shops throughout the UK, with round 5,500 employees.
Full checklist of River Island outlets closing in 2026:
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Bangor Bloomfield, Northern Eire
- Barnstaple, Devon
- Beckton, Higher London
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire
- Cumbernauld, Scotland
- Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Edinburgh Princes Avenue, Scotland
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Nice Yarmouth
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire
- Hanley, Staffordshire
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Hereford, Herefordshire
- Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Kirkcaldy, Scotland
- Leeds Birstall Park, West Yorkshire
- Lisburn, Northern Eire
- Northwich, Cheshire
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Perth, Scotland
- Poole, Dorset
- Rochdale, Higher Manchester
- St Helens, Merseyside
- Surrey Quays, Higher London
- Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
- Taunton, Somerset
- Workington, Cumbria
- Wrexham, Wales
Home of Fraser fell into administration (Picture: Getty)
Home of Fraser
Closure notices within the home windows of its Plymouth department affirm it’ll stop buying and selling in March 2026, leaving the enduring division retailer with simply 11 areas nationwide. The outlet had beforehand been earmarked for closure in 2018 when Home of Fraser fell into administration, but it surely was saved after Sports activities Direct purchased the chain for £90 million.
The retail chain additionally introduced plans to close its Darlington retailer. It was initially going to shut in 2024, but it surely later signed a one-year deal to remain on the town. A Darlington Council spokesperson described the transfer as “disappointing.” They continued: “The shop has been on the coronary heart of our city centre for a few years and can undoubtedly be a miss for Darlington buyers.”
Shoe Zone to shut one other department (Picture: Getty)
Shoe Zone
Shoe Zone has confirmed it’ll shut its Salisbury retailer. Black-and-yellow closing-down indicators have been positioned within the home windows, and the department is anticipated to shut between April and June.
Chairman Charles Smith shared: “Buying and selling situations remained difficult within the first quarter of the brand new monetary 12 months, with income down on forecast, reflecting ongoing macro-economic pressures that proceed to weigh on client confidence, leading to decrease footfall on the UK excessive road, alongside the extremely adversarial Authorities fiscal insurance policies.
“The Authorities’s November 2025 finances included a further enhance within the nationwide residing wage, elevating our value base additional, with broader measures not materially bettering client sentiment.”
The corporate noticed retailer gross sales drop 10.3% to £113.1 million over 2024-25, having ended the 12 months with 28 fewer shops on a web foundation, at 269 in complete. It shut 39 outlets however opened 11, whereas additionally revamping six to its bigger format.
Schuh
One other in style footwear retailer, Schuh, has closed its retailer at The Broadway in Bradford. A spokesperson for the buying centre confirmed the closure and mentioned new retailers will likely be introduced quickly. Schuh opened its first retailer in Edinburgh in 1981 and now operates greater than 120 retailers throughout the UK and Eire.
A spokeswoman for Schuh mentioned: “The UK retail sector is present process speedy transformation, formed by shifting client behaviours and in response, Schuh is evolving to strengthen its place for the longer term.
“Schuh is making strategic selections to adapt, together with the mandatory closure of a number of underperforming shops, amongst them our Bradford retailer in The Broadway Buying Centre.”
Claire’s Equipment to shut down (Picture: Getty)
Claire’s and The Unique Manufacturing unit Store
Claire’s Equipment and The Unique Manufacturing unit Store entered administration in January 2026 after Modella Capital mentioned efforts to rescue the manufacturers had failed. The transfer places 1,355 jobs in danger throughout 154 Claire’s Equipment shops within the UK and Eire. With greater than 280 UK retailers, Claire’s reported losses of round £25 million lately.
A spokesperson for the model’s proprietor mentioned: “Very sadly, now we have needed to provoke insolvency proceedings for The Unique Manufacturing unit Store (TOFS) and Claire’s Equipment UK & Eire. This has been a really powerful resolution,” reported the Metro.
“We have now labored intensively in an effort to save lots of each companies, having made last-ditch makes an attempt to rescue them, however neither has a practical risk of buying and selling profitably once more. In these circumstances, administration is the one possibility. In each instances, the legacy results of buying and selling previous to our possession left them extremely weak.
Jules B
Fashionable excessive road designer retailer Jules B has entered administration. Based in 1984, the unbiased vogue chain describes itself as having grown right into a “main power on this planet of vogue,” promoting clothes, footwear and equipment from labels together with Mulberry, Paul Smith and UGG.
Directors Philip Ross and Allan Kelly of FRP Advisory have been appointed on February 17.
Marasu’s Petit Fours
London-based Marasu’s Petit Fours, one of many capital’s largest luxurious chocolate makers, has entered administration. The Park Royal-based agency, producing over 300 tons yearly, has provided Prestat, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges and Harrods.
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Directors have been appointed on February 6, with the information introduced on February 17. Based in 1902, the chocolatier not too long ago closed its Piccadilly retailer amid weak gross sales and rising cocoa prices.
Correction 21/02/26: A number of references to “Poundland retailer closures” have been faraway from this text owing to inaccuracies. We’re completely happy to right the file.
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