Yet another fixture of the high street will close its doors for the final time.
Peacocks, a Welsh fast-fashion chain employing some 6,000 people, is closing down one of its branches in Consett, County Durham.
Notices of the closure were posted all over the storefront, in Unit 1 6/10 Victoria Road, announcing it would shutter on October 19.
To clear the clothing rails and shelves, Peacocks is offering a 30% discount on all wares ahead of next month.
While Peacocks still has 354 open, news that the branch will close in only a few weeks was met with groans from locals.
‘Absolutely gutted loved Peacock’s especially with Christmas coming up,’ wrote Susan Dowson in the Facebook group The Consett Chatterbox.
‘They always had lovely stock in, ridiculous that Consett’s losing yet another good shop.’
Another local, Lynda Innes McGuigan said the shop has been there ‘forever’.
‘Love Peacocks, why can’t they just move somewhere else in Consett?’ she posted. ‘There’s plenty of empty shops?’
Sharon Reilly added: ‘Nothing going to be left. Our high street now is so very run down.’
‘Unfortunately, another retailer going. “Use it or Lose it” springs to mind,’ said Carole Smith.
Peacocks came close to being wiped off the high street altogether when its owner, Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, was placed into administration in 2020.
But the retailer was rescued by a consortium of investors in April 2021, with Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group saying the move saved 2,000 jobs and 200 shops.
Peacocks is even looking to open 100 new stores in the next year, including many along the M25 which loops around London.
Speaking of the capital, it might soon get Peacocks opening in Brixton, Elephant & Castle, Tottenham, Uxbridge and Woolwhich.
So could Scarborough, Whitby, Christchurch and Hunstanton.
Peacocks’ most recent store openings include Ripon, Oswestry, Orkney, Watford and Stroud.
The next will be 43 Broad Street, Seaford.
Just shy of 7,000 stores have closed this year, according to the retail consortium PWC. But the decline of the high street started as early as the 1970s when out-of-town retail parks posed trouble for shops.
Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and rising operation costs have dealt blow after blow in recent years, accelerating closures.
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