Major sports department chain with 50 sites to shut store for good as it launches closing down sal

A HUGE outdoor department store is closing two stores within days. Decathlon, which sells a range of sports equipment and outdoor wear, is closing its branch above the Tesco Extra at the Westwood Cross Shopping Centre in Broadstairs, Kent, on February 17. The closure will leave Kent without any Decathlon stores, with the next nearest branch located in the Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock, Essex. The retailer said it is rewarding loyal customers by launching a closing down sale before the store shuts for good next week, although it is not yet clear how much items are reduced by.

Staff are also understood to be being offered new roles within Decathlon. Locals have taken to social media to share their frustration at the closure, with one saying: "Anything in westwood withers a disappears.". Another said: "That didn't last long at all", while a third added: "another one bites the dust". However, some local residents said "weren't surprised" as Decathlon "doesn't appeal to the average customer" in the area.

In a statement to local outlet The Isle of Thanet News, a spokesperson for Decathlon said: "It was not an easy decision to close our Broadstairs store, which has proudly served the local community for over three years. “Our priority now is to support our team members during this transition and offer them new roles within Decathlon should they wish to continue with us. “To reward our loyal customers, we’ve launched a closing sale, offering a wide range of quality sports equipment at lower prices before the store closes on February 17.".

The Sun has contacted Decathlon for further comment and we will update this story if we hear more. Decathlon has more than 1,000 stores across Europe, but only around 50 left in the UK, according to its website. The French sporting goods retailer tends to operate out of large department stores in retail parks or shopping malls, or operates shops inside large supermarkets such as Asda superstores or Tesco Extras.

But last October, it told The Sun that it was broadly reviewing its store network which had led to some closures. The chain's store in Forge Retail Park in Telford closed on November 3 last year. It comes as shop closures have rocked high streets across the UK over the past few years. There are many reasons a shop might choose to shut a branch, for example the lease might come to an end or it might make sense to move to another location.

But a number of retailers have been hit by reduced footfall and a rise in online shopping since the pandemic, meaning they make less money from physical stores than they used to. This has been coupled with higher rents, electricity bills and staff costs, which have made it even more expensive to stay open, leading to an increase in closures. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.

RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.

At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.". It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.

It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.