Iceland announced it will be permanently closing more UK stores this year including two sites located in England, on September 16.
This comes after the supermarket experienced changes in “local shopping patterns”.
Executive chairman of Iceland Foods Richard Walker explained, however, that other shops are shutting down simply because “their leases expired”. According to Mr Walker, this is part of their strategy and “a small number of store closures happen every year,” he added.
This month, two Iceland sites will be affected by closures, one in Birkenhead and one in Crewe, north west England.
Iceland currently has a total of 500 branches and 153 Food Warehouse sites across the country, and recently confirmed that new stores will be opening in Kendal, Cumbria, Slough and Aberdeen, later this year.
Executive chairman of Iceland Foods Richard Walker said: “Across Iceland and The Food Warehouse we have a portfolio of over UK 1,000 stores, and our retail estate has grown by nearly 200 stores over the last 10 years.
“We typically open more than 20 new stores each year, creating many new jobs and contributing to the growth of local economies. At the same time, we continually review the retail experience offered to our customers and have always made a small number of store closures every year, as local shopping patterns change and shop leases expire.
“The business is currently trading very strongly, achieving record market shares. Customers can find their closest Iceland and The Food Warehouse stores www.iceland.co.uk/store-finder.”
