New Look has closed 32 stores in recent months, including Northfield shopping centre in Birmingham and Willow Place shopping centre in Corby, which both shut in June
New Look is closing another store today – leaving loyal shoppers gutted. The fashion retailer is closing its shop in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland on July 1.
The shop is located in the Regent Shopping Centre. Reacting to the closure on social media, one customer said: “Another one! This is madness. Soon be no reason to visit Hamilton.” Another said: “It hard for shops to keep open as it all done on online now.”
A spokesperson for New Look told Glasgow Times: “Our store in Hamilton is set to close on July 1. We would like to thank all of our colleagues and the local community for their support over the years.
“We hope customers continue to shop with us online at newlook.com, where our full product range can be found.”
New Look is also set to close its store in Neath, Wales on August 6. New Look has closed 32 stores in recent months, including Northfield shopping centre in Birmingham and Willow Place shopping centre in Corby, which both shut in June.
Its branches in St Austell and Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, closed in May, while locations in Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Wickford, Essex, have also shut. In February, New Look also exited the Republic of Ireland which resulted in the closure of 26 stores.
It comes after Sky News reported this weekend that Alcentra and Brait, the owners of New Look, had hired investment bankers to explore a review of the business – and said this could result in the high street chain being auctioned off in the future.
Nothing has been announced by New Look and the company continues to trade as normal. The new closures were announced by the company before the Sky News report was published.
In response to the Sky News report, a New Look spokesperson said: “We do not comment on rumour and speculation. Management are focused on running the company and executing the strategy for long-term growth. The company is trading well and has supportive shareholders.”
The Times reported earlier this year that New Look was looking to “accelerate future store closures” when leases expire. The newspaper said this was due to the tax increases revealed in October’s budget.
According to the report, around a quarter of its 364 UK stores – around 91 sites – could be at risk of closure. New Look did not confirm this report at the time.
At the time, the company said: “Due to the increasingly volatile trading conditions we needed to expedite our existing plans, which included conducting a review of our operations in the Republic of Ireland.
“Following this review, the group regrettably concluded it was no longer viable to continue trading here, so it has made the difficult but necessary decision to enter liquidation in this market.”