Poundland shuts 44 stores temporarily as shoppers stay at home

Poundland is to shut 44 of its stores temporarily from this weekend due to the third lockdown in England.

The discount retailer said it will place a raft of its stores into “hibernation” from Saturday January 9.

It said the vast majority of its more than 800 stores will remain open due its status as an essential retailer.

However, Poundland said it will close the doors to 44 of its shops which have been impacted by an 80% fall in footfall across some shopping centres and high streets due to the lockdown measures.

During the first lockdown in March, Poundland temporarily shut 120 stores but reopened these sites in May as footfall began to recover.

The company said it has open stores nearby to the majority of sites it has temporarily closed.

Austin Cooke, Poundland’s retail director, said: “We learned valuable lessons during the lockdown in March about how buying patterns change as people stick to Government advice to stay at home.

“Putting a small number of stores into hibernation helps protect them for the long term and focus our attention on the majority of stores that remain open to serve their neighbourhoods.

“We hope this lockdown is short and we can reopen our hibernating stores as quickly as possible and we remain grateful for the vital support schemes available to us that help protect jobs.”

Here is the full list of the 44 stores set to temporarily close:

– Newark, St Marks Place;
– Grantham, Isaac Newton Centre;
– Mansfield, Four Seasons Shopping Centre;
– Lowestoft, Britten Shopping Centre;
– Ipswich, Sailmakers Shopping Centre;
– Norwich, Castle Mall;
– Newmarket, The Guineas Shopping Centre;
– Luton 31, The Mall Shopping Centre
– Belfast, Castlecourt Shopping Centre NI;
– Newry, Buttercrane Shopping Centre NI;
– Enniskillen, Erneside Shopping Centre NI;
– Newry, Quays Shopping Centre NI;
– Inverness, High Street;
– Kirkcaldy, Mercat Shopping Centre;
– Cramlington, Manor Walks Shopping Centre;
– Middlesbrough, Captain Cook Square Shopping Centre;
– Durham, Riverwalk Shopping Centre;
– Beverley, Flemingate Shopping Centre;
– Farnham, The Borough;
– Fareham, Market Quay;
– Fareham, Whiteley Shopping Centre;
– Crewe, Market St;
– Londonderry, Ferryquay Street NI;
– Kingston upon Thames, Eden Walk;
– Harlow, Harvey Shopping Centre;
– Colchester, Culver Street;
– Ayr, High Street;
– Workington, Campbell-Savours Way;
– Carlisle, Scotch Street;
– Dumfries, Loreburne Shopping Centre;
– Glasgow, Union Street;
– Falkirk, Howgate Shopping Centre;
– Edinburgh, Princes Street;
– Perth, St Johns Shopping Centre;
– Cardiff, 121 Queen Street;
– Bridgwater, Angel Place Shopping Centre;
– Burnley, 82 Charter Walk Shopping Centre;
– Preston, Fishergate Centre;
– Rochdale, Exchange Shopping Centre;
– Chester, Frodsham Street;
– Bootle, Strand Shopping Centre;
– Solihull, High Street;
– Newcastle under Lyme, Castle Walk;
– Dudley, Merry Hill Shopping Centre.