THE Original Factory Shop has launched a closing down sale at yet another store.
A branch in Heswall is the latest store to announce its closure, leaving shoppers heartbroken.
The Merseyside branch has launched closing down sale to help shift stock before it shutters for good.
Shoppers have a chance to grab up to 70% off selected lines, and 50% off electrical products.
The Henswell store opened two years ago in June 2023.
The exact date the store is closing has not yet been confirmed but The Sun will update this piece when we hear more.
Up to 11 TOFS stores are already to set to close this month, including sites across Worcestershire, Durham and Cumbria .
Meanwhile, another five stores across Nairn, Market Drayton, Troon, Blairgowrie and Castle Douglas have been placed up for sale.
The Original Factory Shop has told The Sun that negotiations are ongoing with landlords – making it unclear whether these shops will remain open.
It comes as part of a major restructuring carried out by new owner Modella Capital with a number of loss making stores having to close as result.
Over June nine of these stores will close, including sites in Dorest and Durham.
Another site in Middlewich is also set to close however a date is yet to be confirmed.
You can see the full list of store closures here:
- Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire – June 26
- Perth – June 28
- Chester Le Street, County Durham – June 28
- Arbroath, Angus – June 28
- Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire – June 28
- Pershore, Worcestershire – June 28
- Normanton, West Yorkshire – June 28
- Peterhead, Aberdeenshire – June 28
- Shaftesbury, Dorset – June 28
- Staveley, Cumbria – July 12
- Middlewich – TBC
- Heswall – TBC
The following stores are also up for sale:
- Nairn
- Market Drayton
- Troon
- Blairgowrie
- Castle Douglas
What’s been happening with The Original Factory Shop?
Private equity firm Modella bought The Original Factory Shop back in February and has since launched a restructuring effort to renegotiate rents at 88 TOFS stores.
Modella is known for picking up struggling retailers, having also recently acquired Hobbycraft and WHSmith‘s high street shops.
It is set to rebrand all WHSmith high street stores to TGJones, and has brought in advisers to look at potential options for Hobbycraft.
At the end of April, Modella drew up plans to initiate a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for TOFS.
Companies often use CVAs to prevent insolvency, which could otherwise result in store closures or the collapse of the entire business.
They allow firms to explore different strategies such as negotiating reduced rent rates with landlords.
TOFS previously told The Press and Journal that a “number of loss-making stores will have to close” as part of the restructuring.
It said at the time: “Closing stores is always a tough decision and we are committed to keeping as many stores open as possible.
And it is not only TOFS that is facing hard times. Hobbycraft is set to close nine stores come June 21.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
