The major fashion chain confirmed that it would be closing its branch at Vicar Lane Shopping Centre in Chesterfield and its Willow Place branch in Corby this month
River Island is closing two stores this month with one of its high street branches pulling down the shutters today. The major high street fashion chain confirmed that it would be closing its branch at Vicar Lane Shopping Centre in Chesterfield and its Willow Place branch in Corby this month.
The retailer’s Chesterfield branch is scheduled to close today on April 19, after the final day of trading. Locals were told the news in a Facebook post, which also announced a major closing-down sale in the lead-up to its final day, slashing prices across all of its ranges by up to 30%.
The Vicar Lane Shopping Centre post read: “Get 30% off full price and sale items, in-store ONLY. Don’t miss out, the store closes for good at 17.30pm on Saturday April 19, so now’s the time to grab a bargain!”
This River Island branch opens at 9:30am and closes at 5:30pm, so shoppers only have a matter of house left to go before the shutters are pulled down for good.
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The closure comes after the retailer announced that its store in Willow Place, Corby, will also close at the end of April. However, according to a report from the Northamptonshire Telegraph, one River Island insider said there were talks of it closing a little bit further down the line on June 1 instead.
The retailer first opened the Willow Place branch in 2007, and the closure marks a near-decade stint at the shopping centre. River Island has not confirmed why the stores are closing. It is also uncertain how many staff members will be impacted by both closures or whether anyone has been issued a redundancy notice
River Island, alongside other major high street retailers, has struggled over the last few years. In 2020, River Island had to cut 350 jobs after being hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time the retailer said the pandemic was “one of the most significant challenges that River Island has ever faced”. That year it reported a pre-tax loss of £51.1million.
However, it is important to note that retailers close stores for a variety of reasons, and it doesn’t just mean they are in trouble. Some close because the tenancy has come to an end on the site, or that the branch is not as profitable as others.
The retailer has over 250 stores in the UK according to its website, and ships to around 125 countries around the world and employs nearly 8,000 staff. The UK-based retailer was first founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis who is currently 98 years sold.
At first, River Island started off as a small string of shops called Lewis, which soon morphed into several boutiques with different names, such as Chelsea Girl. In the late 1980s, Bernard’s son Leonard, came up with the name River Island, and it has been that way ever since.
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