High street fashion chain to close store this weekend in blow for shoppers
River Island will be closing one of its stores this weekend
The UK high street will take another blow this weekend as popular fashion retailer Rivier Island will be closing one of its stores.
The River Island branch in the Friary Centre in Guildford, Surrey, will be pulling down its shutters for good this week. The news was broken to shoppers when a sign was placed in the window which said it would be closing on Saturday, May 11. In the lead up, the retailer has launched a closing down sale and has slashed prices by up to 50% across its entire range to get rid of stock. After the closure, the closest River Island store will be its branches in Bracknell, Camberley and Portsmouth.
The sign in the store window read: “This store is closing from Saturday 11 May. Please visit us 24/7 online at RiverIsland.com or at your nearest stores: Bracknell, Camberley, and Portsmouth. To all our valued customers we will see you soon!”
River Island has not confirmed why the store is closing and it is uncertain how many staff members have been impacted by the move or whether anyone has been issued a redundancy notice. We have asked River Island and will update this article when we know more.
River Island, alongside other major high street retailers, has struggled over the last few years. In 2020, River Island had to cut 350 jobs after being hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time the retailer said the pandemic was “one of the most significant challenges that River Island has ever faced”. That year it reported a pre-tax loss of £51.1million.
The retailer reported profits of £825.8million for 2022 last year which was below its pre-pandemic levels however the business insisted that it was “back on track” The retailer has over 250 stores in the UK according to its website, and ships to around 125 countries around the world and employs nearly 8,000 staff. The UK-based retailer was first founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis who is currently 98 years sold. At first, River Island started off as a small string of shops called Lewis, which soon morphed into several boutiques with different names, such as Chelsea Girl. In the late 1980s, Bernard’s son Leonard, came up with the name River Island and it has been that way ever since. The Mirror has approached River Island for comment.