A MAJOR high street chain with 1,400 stores will shut a popular town centre store leaving shoppers gutted.
Bridgwater’s WHSmith premises has gone up for sale following a shock closure announcement.
The stationery retailer will pull down the shutters for good on its Bridgwater branch in Somerset on September 7 2024.
A WHSmith spokesperson said that it was “no longer sustainable to trade from the location”.
The decision was made with the store’s lease about to expire.
And the premises has already gone on the market to rent at £52,000 per year, or to purchase for £750,000.
The news of the closure came as a surprise to many locals, despite heavy speculation of the store’s future.
The building features a ground floor sales 4,240 square feet, as well as stores of 491 square feet, plus 2,840 square feet of first floor ancillary accommodation.
The first floor can be accessed via both the front and rear of the building, and is serviced by a staircase to the rear of the shop which leads to a kitchen, staffroom, two offices and male and female WCs.
WHSmith said that they were “disappointed” but thanked customers for their support over the years.
A WHSmith spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Bridgwater will be closing on Saturday 7 September.
“It is no longer sustainable to continue to trade from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.
“We are disappointed to be losing our presence in Bridgwater and we would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us.
“We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.”
Viewers on social media were quick to weigh in with their opinions on the news.
One wrote: “I do enjoy popping into that shop, think that is the only shop around here that sell post cards.”
Another said: “They need to stop upping the rent on these places all the time then we may have places stay and get some decent shops.”
A third commented: “Well that’s it… Town is officially dead.”
Despite the closure the retailer is set to benefit from more stores in the near future.
It comes after news that WHSmith plans to open 110 new shops this year in airports, railway stations and hospitals.
More than 50 of them will be in the US and 15 in the UK.
The stationer already has 580 sites in various global travel locations.
UK travel sales grew by 15 per cent in the 20 weeks to January but it’s in the US where the chain has the potential to flourish.
Chief exec Carl Cowling said: “I am particularly excited by the substantial growth opportunities that exist in [the US] market.
“The group is in its strongest ever position as a global travel retailer.”
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor said: “WH Smith benefits from ‘captive’ customers in many key sites, such as railway stations, motorway services, hospitals and, in particular, airports.
“The return of near-normality in air travel has been a particular boon to this segment of the group.”
UK high street sales fared less well, falling four per cent.
As a result, the group is aiming to cut costs of up to £10million.