Next announces it will shut 11 stores this year in latest blow to high street

Next will close 11 more stores across the UK after bosses admitted half a dozen shops would not meet its targets.

It comes just months after Next closed the doors on its huge Westfield Stratford City shop in February.

The locations of the latest closures or dates on when they will close have not been announced.

However, Next bosses did reveal those areas affected would shut their doors before the end of the 2023 in a blow to fans of the popular high street retailer.

Three of the closures were due to the company being unable to agree fresh leasing terms.

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Meanwhile, they confirmed two of the 11 closures was because sites were being redeveloped. Next decided to make the shock announcement as part of a trading update.

It read: “We expect to close 11 mainline stores this year. Six closures are in locations where we forecast that the store would not achieve our target margin on almost any terms; two closures are due to the site being redeveloped; three further closures are as a result of being unable to agree acceptable new terms with landlords.

“This last category includes one large store where the length of the lease proposed by the landlord, on a high fixed rent charge, was not something we could agree to.”

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Despite the latest closures, Next confirmed they had opened five new clearance stores within the last six months. The company first made the announcement regarding its clearance stores back in March. 

One of these stores opened up at the Gloucester Quays development in April with another at the Fforestfach Retail Park in Swansea.

Outlet stores are not the same as traditional shops and include many older products at discounted prices. 

These usually feature collections seen in previous seasons that you won’t find in traditional high street locations.

In a boost for consumers, Next confirmed they would not increase prices by as much as they first thought. 

The company had expected to raise costs by around three percent but this has now been lowered as business costs come down. 

Instead, prices will only go up by two percent across their autumn and winter collections. 

The UK retailer has also increased its profit expectations for the third time this year after achieving better sales.

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