UK toy store The Entertainer to close three stores within weeks - full list

The Entertainer

The Entertainer will close stores in the next couple of months

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Sarra Gray

By Sarra Gray


Published: 23/11/2023

- 11:01

Updated: 23/11/2023

- 11:08

A popular toy shop is set to close stores across the UK

The UK high street has been changing recently with lots of popular brands closing and opening stores.

Toy shop The Entertainer is the latest the close some locations for good.


Stores will shut in The Galleries shopping centre, Bristol, the High Street store, Cheltenham and Bishops Weald House, Horsham.

The decision has been made due to a change in shopping habits.

The Entertainer

Customers are urged to visit nearby stores

PA

Speaking of the closure in Cheltenham, chief operations officer at The Entertainer Nick Hargreaves said: "It’s no secret that shopping habits have changed in recent times."

He added the Bristol branch will close as the shopping centre is redeveloped.

Mr Hargreaves continued: “Due to the planned redevelopment of The Galleries shopping centre, it is with great sadness that we have to announce the closure of our store within the centre, which has been part of the local community for several years."

The company is looking for opportunities elsewhere in the business for the staff affected.

The branches are expected to close within weeks, around the start of January.

Retailers across the UK have been hit by the changing shopping habits of customers.

A surge in the popularity of online shopping and the impact of the Covid pandemic has pushed people away from the high streets.

It's not all bad news for the high street, however.

Recent research by NTT DATA UK&I showed 47 per cent of Britons prefer the high street over online when it comes to shopping for clothes.

It revealed even more people could be tempted to hit the shop if self-service checkouts were available.

Some 61 per cent of respondents claimed cashier-less checkouts would make a store more appealing to them.

The Entertainer follows in the footsteps of discount retailer Poundstretcher who has announced more closures.

Poundstretcher

Poundstretcher recently announced closures

GETTY

The British chain has 'closing down' signs displayed outside stores in Kilmarnock, Scotland, Romford, England and Ammanford, Wales.

Branches in Leyland, Grantham, St Austell, Penzance, Hinckley, Watford, Grimsby and Hatch Warren have all recently closed.

While some locations will shut, Poundstretcher shared plans to open 50 more stores across the UK.

Stores have already opened this year in Kent, Maidenhead and St Neots.

Clarks, Marks & Spencer and Homebase have all closed stores this month.

GB News has contacted The Entertainer for comment

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