retailers

HIGH streets across the UK are facing more closures as major retailers shut their doors today. 

 Poundland, Game, and The Original Factory Shop are among the chains cutting back on stores, leaving shoppers with fewer options. 

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These closures are part of wider restructuring plans as businesses adapt to changing shopping habits and financial pressures.

Here are all the stores shutting on your local high street today.

Game

Game is closing its Metrocentre store in Gateshead today (September 7).

The closure is part of changes by its owner, Frasers Group.

The company is reducing the number of stores as more shopping moves online and into concessions.

The chain has around 240 stores across the UK. Another store in the Galleries Shopping Centre, Bristol, will close on September 25.

However, a Game concession inside the Sports Direct store in the same shopping centre will stay open.

Both closing stores are holding big sales to clear stock.

Shoppers can get discounts of up to 20%.

Poundland

Poundland’s Pontypool store is set to close today (September 7), followed by the closure of its Irvine branch on 14th September.

Recently, discount chain avoided going into administration by getting creditors to agree to restructuring plans, which included closing stores and cutting jobs.

Poundland’s restructuring will see the chain close a total of 68 stores.

The restructure also includes rent cuts at up to 180 stores and the closure of its frozen food and online shopping.

Meanwhile, the Darton frozen food distribution centre will shut later this year.

This will mean online shopping and frozen food will no longer be offered by Poundland.

The Bilston national distribution centre is also set to close in early 2026.

Come September 16, shoppers will no longer be able to buy products online and its loyalty scheme, Poundland Perks, will be axed.

Customers who have signed up to the Poundland Perks app have until January 15, 2026, to use their reward vouchers.

But Poundland plans to expand its £1 product range and focus on womenswear and seasonal items if the restructure goes ahead.

Original Factory Shop

The Original Factory Shop has been closing stores across the UK as part of a major restructuring plan.

Branches in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Normanton, West Yorkshire, and Kirkham, Lancashire, are among those that have already shut their doors.

Next in line are the Chard store, which closed today (September 7) and the Market Drayton branch, set to shut on September 20.

The Original Factory Shop was bought by Modella Capital, a private equity firm, in February.

Modella is known for taking on struggling retailers and has also recently bought Hobbycraft and WHSmith’s high street shops.

The firm quickly launched a restructuring effort to renegotiate rents at 88 The Original Factory Shop stores.

At the end of April, Modella drew up plans to initiate a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for the retailer.

Companies often use CVAs to avoid insolvency, which could otherwise force stores to close or trigger the collapse of the entire business.

They allow firms to explore different options, such as negotiating reduced rents with landlords.

But The Original Factory Shop previously told The Press and Journal that a “number of loss-making stores would have to close” in the restructuring.

What else is happening on the high street?

Bodycare, which begun as a market stall in Lancashire back in the 1970s and has 147 UK stores, appointed administrators from Interpath Advisory on Friday.

Exactly 32 stores closed with immediate effect, with around 450 employees made redundant.

Currently, 115 stores remain open and are trading as usual while administrators explore options for the future of the business.

However, if a buyer cannot be found, further store closures may occur.

Like many of its peers, Bodycare has felt the burn of risings cost coupled with shoppers having less money to spend at the till.

Recently, River Island avoided going into administration by getting creditors to agree to restructuring plans, which included closing stores and cutting jobs.

River Island will close up to 33 stores in January to help write off the fashion brand’s debts.

Locations in major UK cities including Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford, Brighton and Perth are all expected to close.

Meanwhile, fashion retailer New Look has closed a dozen sites in the UK this year and also exited Ireland.

Last month, Claire’s also collapsed into administration and stopped online orders for its customers.

Plus, H&M-owned fashion chain Monki closed the last of its high street stores in August.

Are you a Walmart (WMT -1.18%) person or a Costco (COST -1.18%) person?

When it comes to shoppers, the two groups tend to be mutually exclusive, with many Americans swearing by one and swearing off the other.

But for investors, the question is a bit different: They want to know which they should put money into.

And that question is more relevant today than it’s been in a while. Many economists expect President Trump’s tariffs to start pushing the price of groceries — from bananas and coffee to soda and beer — higher in the coming months. The Tax Foundation expects tariffs to impact nearly 75% of U.S. food imports.

If and when prices of groceries rise, both Walmart and Costco are expected to benefit, as many Americans will trade down to retailers that emphasize low prices. Plus, because they’re so large, both retailers have significant supply chain leverage that should allow them to push back on higher prices from suppliers — to an extent, at least.

Image source: Getty Images.

Walmart is quite a bit larger than Costco, with a market cap of $778 billion, versus $441 billion for Costco. Walmart has more than 10,000 stores on four continents and is the world’s largest retailer by sales. Costco is the world’s third-largest retailer; it has a membership model, with roughly 900 locations and 79.6 million paid household members and 37.6 million paid executive memberships. While they sell all kinds of items, Walmart and Costco rank as grocery behemoths.

Costco stock is up roughly 6% this year as of Aug. 21 and 181% over the past five years, while Walmart stock has gained roughly 8% year-to-date and 123% over five years.

Strong inflation era results

Walmart and Costco often do well when inflation pushes prices higher and shoppers look for bargains.

From January 2022 to February 2023, when year-over-year headline inflation ranged from 6% to 9.1%, Walmart kept the increase in grocery prices to 3%, compared to average price increases of 7.5% or more at rivals like Amazon, Kroger, and Target, according to a Reuters analysis. Walmart’s size and buying power help it force suppliers to keep prices lower.

As a result, in its fiscal 2024, ended Jan. 31 of that year, Walmart grew total revenue in constant currency 6% to $648 billion and its adjusted earnings per share 5.7% higher to $6.65. In the 52 weeks following that earnings announcement, Walmart shares climbed 66%.

Costco, on the other hand, makes a large percentage of its profits from membership income — membership fees totaled about 65% of net income in the most recently reported quarter. That business model — along with a reputation for good deals — helps steady the company’s results during an inflation spike. In its fiscal 2023 (ended Sept. 3 of that year), Costco saw U.S. net sales grow 6.7% to almost $238 billion. Membership fees increased 8% that year, to $4.58 billion.

In the 52 weeks after that earnings release, Costco stock rose 63%.

And just recently, in its third quarter of 2025, the retailer reported a 10.4% increase in its membership fee income, to more than $1.2 billion. Last September Costco raised membership fees by $5, to $65 a year, yet it saw no meaningful decline in members after the increase.

Both businesses and their stocks benefit from rising overall prices because they’re able to either keep prices lower than the competition (Walmart), which drives sales, or rely on membership fees (Costco) that drive profits.

What does the future hold?

So which stock should you invest in today in anticipation of rising grocery prices in the months ahead?

Well, stock prices ultimately track earnings growth. And analysts expect Costco to increase earnings per share for the current quarter by 10% (results will be released on Sept. 25).

As for Walmart, the retail behemoth released its second-quarter results this week and they were slightly disappointing. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.68 were lower than the average analyst estimate of $0.73, and that sent the stock 5% lower on Thursday. Revenue, however, came in at $177.4 billion, almost $2 billion higher than estimates.

Thus, the picture is mixed. Rising grocery prices will impact all U.S. retailers, and both Costco and Walmart have a history of thriving when that happens. With the uncertainty of Trump’s tariff policies still high, however, Costco’s membership-driven model may put it in a more advantageous position going forward.

WASHINGTON —  Job growth rebounded in November from the weather-related stall in hiring the previous month, fresh evidence that the labor market remains healthy despite signs of a slowing economy overall, according to new government data released Friday.

The nation’s unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% last month from 4.1% as more people reported being unemployed and others left the labor force. That is still low by historical standards, although the rate has crept up from 3.7% at the start of the year.

The report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was slightly stronger than economists had expectated, won’t make it easier for members of the Federal Reserve as they weigh whether to cut interest rates further in their final 2024 meeting later this month.

The Fed wants to strike a balancing act between maintaining stable economic and job growth, which are showing signs of slowing, and continuing to bring inflation down as it remains above their 2% target.

Friday’s report showed that employers added 227,000 net new jobs in November, led by big gains in healthcare and leisure and hospitality. The retail industry, which in past years tended to add a lot of seasonal help in late fall, lost 28,000 jobs over the month and has barely grown all year, a reflection of continuing difficulties at brick-and-mortar stores and a slowdown in retail sales.

The overall November payroll gains included some recovery from the prior month, when only 36,000 jobs were added, thanks to hurricanes and a strike by Boeing workers, which has since ended.

Averaging the last two months, job growth was 131,500 a month, which is below the monthly average of 186,000 gains in the prior 12 months.

In November, average hourly earnings for all employees in the private sector rose by 13 cents, to $35.61. That’s a 4% increase from a year ago, which is about one percentage point above the annual rate of inflation.

California’s jobs report for November will be released on Dec. 20.

In October, California employers shed 5,500 jobs and the statewide unemployment rate edged up to 5.4%.

MOTORISTS are still being ripped off at the pumps as fuel retailers keep profits high, the competition watchdog warned.

Despite falling global oil prices, supermarkets and ­petrol stations are pocketing more cash — with profit ­margins climbing since April.

The Competition and Markets Authority said supermarket profits on fuel jumped from 7 to 8.1 per cent a litre between April and August.

Other retailers raked in even more — boosting margins from 7.8 to 10.2 per cent.

The organisation’s Dan Turnbull said: “Drivers are paying more for fuel than they should be as they continue to be squeezed.

“We remain concerned about weak competition.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first Budget to freeze fuel duty for a 15th historic year in a win for drivers and The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign.

But the AA said those savings are being swallowed up by fuel prices which “will stir anger”.

Electric car drivers are still being hit by sky-high costs at public rapid ­chargers, paying 79.19p per kwh, 28 per cent up on two years ago.

It is 7p at home.

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