B&M, Argos, Boots and Co-op to close more stores in August – full list

Seven British retailers announced further store closures in August after many months of reducing their number of physical branches.

Household names including B&M, Boots, Argos and New Look are among those bidding farewell to sites next month, with many others expected to follow suit.

It comes following a difficult time for the retail industry with hundreds of shops having already closed in the past seven months.

Boots

Boots are among those closing stores from this week, with more to follow later in the summer. The company confirmed that 300 branches will cease trading within a 12-month period.

Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff-on-Sea will be one of the first sites to go next month on Tuesday, August 1.

Despite the loss of a physical store, no staff are expected to be out of a job with roles offered at alternative sites.

Argos

The retailer will remove a total of seven shops from its brick-and-mortar portfolio next month. Owned by Sainsbury’s, the company has already closed 45 of a planned 100 standalone Argos stores and moved them into 25 large supermarket branches.

Grimsby Alexandria Argos is due to relocate to Sainsbury’s on August 9 and 10, while the Scunthorpe branch will relocate on August 15 and 16.

The retailer’s St Stephen’s shopping centre store in Hull will go on August 8 and be replaced by a new branch in Sainsbury’s, Hessle on August 9.

Asda 

Unlike Sainsbury’s which will gain Argos stores, supermarket giant Asda will lose some of its pharmacy outlets. The grocer announced the closure of seven of its 254 in-store pharmacies earlier in January due to low customer usage.

On Thursday, August 3, Southampton, Seaham, Feltham, Blackburn, Adel, West Bradford and Weston-Super-Mare will lose their pharmacies.

Asda Living will close its Eastgate Retail Park branch in Bristol in August, though an exact date is yet to be confirmed. Another site will close next week on July 31.

B&M

B&M has closed a number of stores in recent months, with some shut for good and others relocating to other sites. A further two sites will shut in August, with the Kiln Lane branch in Reading expected to close on Saturday, August 19.

Its Glasgow Forge store will also shut temporarily on Sunday, August 20, though shoppers will be able to take advantage of a larger site nearby in Brunel Retail Park.

The new 22,000 square foot store will feature a large centre and open its doors at 8am on Saturday, August 26.

New Look

The fashion retailer will lock its Kings Chase Shopping Centre site in Bristol on Wednesday, August 9. It comes following the closure of 85 branches across the UK since 2018.

The shop is shutting to allow for refurbishment and expansion works to complete. Following this, the new store will open back up to customers at 8am on Saturday, August 26.

Co-op

Fairtrade supermarket chain Co-op will lose its Mildenhall Road shop in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on August 19.

The chain closed its branch in Castle House, Sheffield, on July 22 and previously shut its branch in Princess Drive, Grantham, earlier in January, along with the Linthorpe Village, Middlesbrough Co-op in the same month.

Iceland

Budget retailer Iceland has already bid farewell to just shy of 12 shops this year with one further closure in August. 

Iceland will be shutting its branch in Fife on August 12 and a second supermarket is expected to go with it in September.