A HIGH street fashion chain with 89 branches has launched a closing down sale at a popular branch ahead of shutting in a few weeks. Jack Wills, which is owned by Frasers Group, will shutter its branch in Old Market shopping centre in Hereford in March. A closing down sale has already been launched, according to a report in the Hereford Times. It will give shoppers a chance to grab 20% off full price items before it goes for good.

The brand famous for its hoodies and branded underwear, first opened in the West Midland shopping centre in 2015. Locals have branded the move a "shame" with many saying the area would be left like a "ghost town". Responding to the news, one disappointed shopper said: "How many empty shops is that in Hereford now? Its a dying city.". While another added: "Another one bites the dust.". A third frustrated local said: "Very sad. The high streets are really struggling. People are not spending. Always feel for the staff involved.".

The Sun has approached Frasers for comment. It's not the first time locals in the area have had to wave goodbye to one of their favourite high street stores. The Caffè Nero branch, on Eign Gate in Hereford, closed last month. The notice read: "Sadly after many years this Caffè Nero has had to close due to circumstances beyond our control. "We have loved being here and would like to thank you for being a wonderful customer - it has always been a privilege to serve you.".

Last year, Cosmetics giant L'Occitane En Provence shut the doors of the store in Hereford's Old Market. The high end store opened for the first time in 2014 with the launch of the shopping centre. As for Jack Wills, it's not the first time the retailer has closed its stores. Shoppers were left devastated after it shut its branch in Westquay Shopping Centre in Southampton. Many took to social media to share their frustration, with one blasting "terrible".

Jack Wills also closed Forth Street in Taunton back in November 2023, and pulled the shutters down on its last Scottish store on Bell Street in St Andrews in October 2023. Jack Wills was bought out by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct, part of the Frasers Group, in August 2019. The billionaire put in a £12.75million bid for the ailing business, which at the time had 110 stores across the UK and Ireland.

Just this month, bosses at a number of prominent retailers have revealed plans to cut stores from their estates. Garden centre giant Dobbies closed 12 of its stores before Christmas to help shore up extra costs following a restructuring plan. Meanwhile, Homebase has confirmed that six of its sites will close before the end of the year. These include sites in Sutton Coldfield, Bromsgrove, Cromer, Fareham, Newark and Rugby.

Three more Homebase sites in Derry, Inverurie, and Omagh are also set to close in the coming months, along with a branch in Glenrothes near Fife. The garden and homeware retailer crashed into administration last month, but around 70 stores were rescued by CDS Superstores, the owner of The Range and Wilko. At the time it entered administration, Homebase operated 141 stores. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.

Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April. A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024. Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure. 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.". Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.