SHOPPERS have just hours left to grab massive bargains before another big-name store closes its doors for good.
The Sports Direct branch on Newmarket Road in Cambridge is shutting today, after launching a huge closing down sale to clear out stock.
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Customers have been piling in to snap up discounts on sports gear, trainers, and top-brand clothing.
Word of the closure spread quickly online, with eagle-eyed shoppers racing to share the news.
One posted in a local Facebook group: “Sports Direct on Newmarket Rd is closing down, 18/04.
“Lots of bargains in store!”
Another frustrated local said: “Another nail in the coffin for concrete Cambridge.”
Meanwhile, a third added simply: “Losing all our stores!
“But not everyone was rushing down, with some dismissing the sale as nothing worth running out the door for.”
The Cambridge closure is just the latest in a series of store shutdowns for the retailer.
Earlier this year, Sports Direct pulled the plug on its Central Six Retail Park store in Coventry at the end of January.
Last year, its branches in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and on Octagon Parade in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, also shut permanently.
The company, owned by Frasers Group, has been gradually trimming its estate as pressures mount on the high street.
The closure will leave many workers uncertain about their future, with no clear announcement yet about potential relocations or redundancies.
More Store Closures on the Way
Once the beating heart of Britain’s shopping scene, high streets across the country are taking hit after hit.
The rise of online shopping, the cost-of-living crisis, and soaring inflation have all combined to hammer traditional retailers.
Now, many stores that once thrived are being forced to close, with some landlords unwilling or unable to invest in keeping stores open.
It’s a bleak time for shoppers, with fewer options left on local high streets.
And it’s not just Sports Direct feeling the pinch.
JD Sports, another giant in the sportswear world, has confirmed it plans to shut down 50 stores next year.
The closures are part of a major shake-up that will also see 150 new stores open and 100 relocations or conversions.
While JD Sports has been tight-lipped about whether any UK stores will shut, it warned of “volatile” trading conditions in the year ahead.
Shares in the company have also dipped in recent weeks despite a minor boost in European sales.
Meanwhile, beloved bakery giant Greggs is closing its Lytham store in Lancashire on March 28.
Shoezone will also close its branch on Devonshire Road on May 13, ending another staple of the high street.
Bennetts Family Bakers will shut up shop in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, this March 29.
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.
Red Menswear, a Chatham favourite trading since 1999, will shut its doors for good on the same day.
In Hereford, locals are devastated after the announcement that M Black & Sons, a menswear institution since 1949, will close at the end of 2025.
The owners are retiring, and the shop’s lease is up, ending a chapter that has dressed generations.
Two more Hereford stores, Crosskeys Stores and BookMasters UK, are also shutting down, as the high street struggles to stay afloat.
Elsewhere, Beales, one of Britain’s oldest department stores, is shutting its final store in Poole’s Dolphin Centre on May 31 after more than 140 years.
Massive closing down sales are offering up to 70 per cent off fashion, furniture, gifts, and cosmetics.
High street fashion chain New Look has also started a wave of closures, shutting nearly 100 shops across the UK.
Branches in Gateshead, St Austell, and Porth have already launched their own clearance sales.
Reports suggest tax changes and rising costs have forced New Look to speed up its closure plans.
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