A BRITISH supermarket giant with over 1,200 locations will close this weekend.
Asda will shut its branch within Anchor Retail Park in Stepney Green, London, in a move that will place 50 job roles at risk.
Asda has announced a store closure which could put 50 jobs on the line[/caption]
The closure is an isolated incident and driven solely by large rent hikes proposed by the landlord.
An Asda spokesperson said the increase in rent “would have made the store financially unviable”.
They added: “We understand that this news may be disappointing, however want to reassure customers that they will be able to find all of their favourite products and Asda’s outstanding value at our nearby Isle of Dogs superstore.”
The news has previously been described as “devastating” by GMB union.
GMB region officer Keith Dixon told Barking and Dagenham Post: “This is devastating news for the shop staff, many of whom have worked at Asda for years.
“We have many GMB members in this store and they are understandably concerned about their jobs.”
He added: “We hope that the majority may be able to move to neighbouring stores, but if that is not possible there could be job losses.”
The chain previously said it would look to redeploy staff members to other other roles within Asda.
Locals have until Sunday, 7 September, to say their goodbyes to the supermarket before it closes for good.
The upcoming closure has been branded “unfortunate,” and one shopper said it was the “closest” store to where they lived.
But other shoppers were not so moved, with one resident simply bidding “good riddance” to the grocery store.
Asda has 1,200 supermarkets across the UK, and shoppers can find their nearest by visiting www.storelocator.asda.com.
Separately, bosses at the firm have spoken out about disruptions to orders and deliveries following a £1billion IT upgrade.
Allan Leighton, Asda‘s executive chairman, said last week it would continue until the end of September.
He said the upgrade had led to “some temporary disruption with product availability” in stores and online, while it changes over from the old to the new system.
There have also been some issues with online deliveries.
This is expected to have an impact on the supermarket chain’s sales over the three months until the end of September.
Alongside IT upgrades, the grocer is also investing in store refurbishments, standalone convenience outlets, and its George clothing brand.
Asda has faced teething issues since its £6.8billion takeover by Blackburn brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, along with private equity firm TDR Capital.
Last June, TDR Capital acquired Zuber Issa’s share in the business.
Retail pain
It comes amid a challenging time for retail with many chains battling low consumer spending alongside rising costs.
River Island will close up to 33 stores in January as part of a restructuring plan to help write off the fashion brand’s debts.
Locations in major UK cities including Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford, Brighton and Perth are all expected to close.
Meanwhile, Poundland will close 68 stores as part of a huge restructuring plan.
Last month, Claire’s collapsed into administration and stopped its online orders for its customers.
However, all of its 306 stores across the UK and Ireland are set to remain open.
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.”