AN ICONIC shoe shop, loved by many parents is to shut its “amazing” store today and shoppers have been left feeling sad.
A Clarks branch in Gowthorpe, Selby will be closing its doors permanently today, Saturday, September 14.
The footwear chain had previously been described by customers as “amazing”, “welcoming”, “excellent”, and “perfect”.
However, at the start of September, Clarks announced the shock closure to happen in the North Yorkshire town.
“We’d like to thank our loyal customers who have shopped with us at these stores, and we’ll be delighted to continue to serve them with our full range of products online and at our nearby Clarks stores in York, Monks Cross and Wakefield.”
At the time of the devastating announcement, shoppers took to social media to express their disappointment and one said they were “sad to see it go”.
At its peak, the popular retailer had more than 1,400 stores and franchises as of last year the new number is a mere 320.
Shockingly, up until two weeks ago, the footwear chain was receiving five-star reviews.
Last year one local said: “Was very impressed by the service to fit my daughter’s shoes.
“Felt that the lady took time to try different sizes to get the right ones for her. Very happy!!”
A second wrote: “Excellent shop due to the amazing staff. We came out with 9 pairs of shoes.
“Staff couldn’t have been more accommodating.”
Another commented: “Really good shoe shopping experience.
“Fantastic customer service from two really helpful ladies.
“All a perfect example of why we need high street shops.”
A fourth posted: “Love this little store, staff are incredibly friendly.
“Would always come to this Clarks before any other store.”
While a fifth said: “Brilliant can’t recommend them enough the ladies were so helpful and went above and beyond.”
“Helpful staff nothing’s too much bother always clean and tidy,” another said.
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. 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.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase 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.
