The shop has launched an ‘everything must go’ sale, and says there are ‘closing soon’ signs in the widow – leaving shoppers devastated by its imminent closure
Lakeland is set to close another one of its stores next month. An employee of its branch in Reading told the Reading Chronicle that the shop is closing on August 8.
The news site reports that the shop has launched an “everything must go” sale, and says there are “closing soon” signs in the widow.
Shoppers have since been reacting to the news on social media. One person said: “Oh nooo! I love Lakeland products! I hate being forced to have to shop online for my favourite items of kitchen and homeware.
“Reading use to be a vibrant shopping centre which I loved visiting, but not anymore! It’s literally been destroyed! Nothing worth visiting it for anymore.”
Another said: “Will there be any shops apart from coffee shops and vape shops.” A third commented: “What? I love that shop. There’s going to be nothing left soon….. I’m not one for shopping online, I like to see things in person. Such a shame…”
A fourth added: “Was in there today and the staff are gutted as they’ve been made redundant.”
It comes after Lakeland closed its Syon Park store in west London on June 6. Its store in the Eastgate Shopping Centre, Inverness, was also shut down and moved to the Simpsons Garden Centre in March.
Lakeland started as Lakeland Plastics when it was established in 1964 by Alan Rayner, who began by selling plastic bags from his garage in the Lake District.
The company is headquartered in Windermere, Cumbria, but has nearly 60 stores across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It comes after Asda announced plans to close one of its stores, putting 50 jobs at risk. The supermarket wants to close its Anchor Retail Park, Stepney Green, branch as it is no longer “viable commercially”.
No exact closure date has been announced, but the lease on the building is reported to end in September. Asda told the Barking and Dagenham Post that it would try to offer affected workers other roles within the company. Asda has around 1,200 stores.
Poundland has also revealed plans to close 68 stores and two of its warehouses, in a move that puts more than 1,300 jobs at risk, after being sold to investment firm Gordon Brothers for £1.
Poundland will also look to reduce its rent at a number of other locations. The restructuring plan will go through the High Court for approval. But before this announcement, Poundland had already shut more than a dozen stores.
Poundland, which is owned by Pepco Group, has around 800 stores in the UK and employs roughly 16,000 employees. Poundland reported revenues dropped by 6.5% to €985million (£830million) for the six months to March, compared with a year earlier.