Store closures have been at the forefront of big changes to British highstreets with the likes of Boots, Wilko, Wetherspoons, New Look, and Next having axed several sites in 2023.
They’re not the only chains to exit the high street either.
According to Government figures, more businesses have gone bust in England and Wales in recent months than since the 2009 financial crisis.
But while so many brands have axed brick-and-mortar sites in a bid to cut costs and adapt to changing shopping habits, there are some that plan to do quite the opposite.
Some major high-street names including Wilko, Asda, and Sephora will expand their portfolios in 2024 by increasing the number of physical shops found in the UK.
Wilko
The beloved British retailer has already embarked on its return to high streets after its swift exit earlier this year. The chain’s brand name and intellectual property were sold to The Range in a £5.5million deal.
While the brand has been up and running online for some time, its store returns didn’t start until early in December when three concept stores were opened across the UK before Christmas, including in Plymouth, Exeter and Luton.
A wider national roll-out across England, Scotland, Wales and for the first time, Northern Ireland, will continue in 2024.
Alex Simpkin, CEO of The Range confirmed that Britons can expect about 50 new stores to land on high streets in addition to the existing three.
Peacocks
The popular budget fashion brand is set to open six new stores soon having already opened four around the UK.
Its expansion of 10 new sites follows a stint in administration in November 2020 after the pandemic shut down high streets.
In April 2021, 200 of its 420 stores were saved when it was bought out of administration by an international investment consortium, but 200 stores sadly closed in the process.
After a slow and steady return to high streets around the country, Peacocks now has 350 stores already open. The six locations gaining a branch in 2024 include:
- Marple
- Winchester
- Bexhill
- Street
- Penarth
- Ripon
B&M
Discount store B&M will join Peacocks in opening six new locations in a matter of weeks, with some taking their place in former Wilko sites.
In January, the popular home retailer will open at the former Wilko site in Porthmadog, Wales on Thursday, January 18, and then in the old Sunderland Washington Wilko on Friday 26.
Later in February, B&M fans in Harrow, London, will welcome a site on Saturday 10, then another in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, on February 21.
Thamesmead, London, will gain a B&M store on February 22 as will Beaumont Lays, Leicester, a day later. Lastly, fans in Worthing, West Sussex, will also see a new store appear in the Guildbourne Centre to replace the old Wilko shop.
Asda
A flurry of new Asda Express shops have opened this year already, meaning the supermarket now has 229 Asda Express stores across the nation.
It recently announced that it is on track to debut more than 1,000 new sites throughout the UK and Northern Ireland by March 2024, and has plans to add 11 more Express sites to London high streets during 2024.
Sephora
The cult beauty retailer will open its third UK store in Manchester next summer, marking the first branch to open in the north of England. Regarded as a megastore, the new site will be found in the city’s famous Trafford Centre.
It comes after the beauty giant debuted in both London Westfield shopping centres, with the first opened at the Shepherd’s Bush site in March and the second in Stratford in November.
