SALE AWAY
Popular furniture store to close its doors for good in WEEKS as it launches closing down sale
Read on to find out why the shop is shutting
A POPULAR furniture store has announced that it will close its doors for good in weeks in a blow to shoppers.
The Eccentric Leopard specialises in professionally upcycled vintage furniture and has been featured in Vogue Italia and Grand Designs.
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It is based within Necessary Furniture, a charity in Kent that helps to upcycle and recycle unwanted homeware for those in need.
But the shop will soon close its doors for good, its owner Kylie Hodge announced in an emotional Facebook post.
She said: “On 25th October 2021, I posted as The Eccentric Leopard for the first time, not knowing what was ahead - just that change was coming.
“Nearly four years later, what a ride it’s been… Now, a new chapter begins - I’m proud to say I’ve just been appointed General Manager of Necessary Furniture!”
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She added: “The Eccentric Leopard is ending, but a new journey begins. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every bit of support.”
It is understood that the shop will close its doors in weeks, although the exact date has not yet been confirmed.
The shop has now launched a closing down sale with some items up to 30% off.
Which other shops are shutting?
Several major shops are also set to close stores in the coming weeks.
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Among them is WHSmith, which shut its Oldham branch in Greater Manchester on May 3.
Its shop in Stockton, County Durham, will close on May 17, meanwhile the branch in the Frenchgate Centre in Doncaster will close on May 31.
Britain's retail apocalypse: why your favourite stores KEEP closing down
The closures come after the retailer sold off almost 500 of its high street shops after being taken over by Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital.
The WHSmith name is set to disappear from the high street completely, with the brand instead focusing on its shops and travel hubs.
The Entertainer also closed its store in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, for good on May 3.
Keith Stenhouse, head of region at The Entertainer, said the chain is looking at shutting standalone stores that are “no longer profitable”.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
He added: “We are sad to be closing our Barrow in Furness store as of 3rd May and would like to thank our customers and staff for their loyalty and support.
“We’re proud of the service we’ve offered and are committed to supporting our employees through this situation.”
Meanwhile, Poundland has also said it has faced slowing sales, with its profits falling by £641million late last year.
It has been forced to close several stores and its owner Pepco has been looking at a potential sale of the business.
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Its store in Liverpool’s Belle Vale Shopping Centre is set to shut on May 6.
A spokesperson for Poundland said the store had been served notice on its lease.
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