One high street brand, which is closing 32 stores, says the move has been affected by the rise of online shopping and high operating costs. Shoppers aren’t too surprised about the news though
British retailer River Island has announced this week that will be closing a total of 32 stores in January. The company said the move is part of a restructuring plan to help save the fashion retailer after a £32.3million pre-tax loss and a 19% drop in sales.
The high street brand said the main challenges for them have been the rise of online shopping and high operating costs. The brand’s CEO, Ben Lewis, also said that the fashion brand has “a large portfolio of stores no longer aligned to our customers’ needs,” despite it being “much loved” by UK shoppers.
Currently, River Island has 200 shops and employs more than 5,000 staff. These jobs are not at risk, although the company is trying to relocate staff where possible.
Unfortunately, the move hasn’t come as a massive surprise to UK shoppers who have seen a number of high street stores close over the last few years.
Some Reddit users also shared their reasons why they thought River Island wouldn’t survived after reports that it was at ‘risk of collapse’ circulated six months ago.
One person wrote on a thread at the time: “Always found it odd that they were able to outlast Topshop etc. Their stores are all quite old and tired and stuff was always very overpriced for what it is.”
While someone else agreed: “It’s been overpriced for years so this is hardly surprising. When there’s so much competition you have to up your game and they didn’t.”
A third chimed in: “H&M are a far better shop. River island can’t compete with online or high street retail.”
Despite the comments one person admitted they were “sad” about the news, while some also feared for those who would lose their jobs.
The move comes after Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop plunged into administration this month too, putting 2,500 jobs at risk.
Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Poundland all closed stores last year too, with many closures continuing into 2026.
River Island stores closing in 2026
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Bangor Bloomfield, Northern Ireland
- Barnstaple, Devon
- Beckton, Greater London
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire
- Cumbernauld, Scotland
- Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Edinburgh Princes Street, Scotland
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Great Yarmouth
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire
- Hanley, Staffordshire
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Hereford, Herefordshire
- Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Kirkcaldy, Scotland
- Leeds Birstall Park, West Yorkshire
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland
- Northwich, Cheshire
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Perth, Scotland
- Poole, Dorset
- Rochdale, Greater Manchester
- St Helens, Merseyside
- Surrey Quays, Greater London
- Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
- Taunton, Somerset
- Workington, Cumbria
- Wrexham, Wales
