Can you remember when the first Shoe Zone opened in your city? Probably not. It’s one of those high street stores that seems to just have been around since the beginning of time, steadily plodding on, year after year, offering the people of Great Britain good value on their footwear. But Shoe Zone’s long reign could be coming to an end, as the company has announced that it will be closing some of its stores in the near future.
The extent of the damage is currently unknown, but the chain has announced that the government’s October Budget, which increased the minimum wage, has incurred ‘significant additional costs’ and led it to a point where several stores have now become ‘unviable’.
However, this is not new for Shoe Zone. It has closed 50 stores over the past year, compared to only 27 which have been opened, leaving it with a total of 297 stores open which employ 2,250 people. On top of the cost associated with the budget, the brand has suffered from ‘very challenging trading conditions,’ since the beginning of winter, and projected profits have almost halved. Basically, it’s a pretty bleak picture.
Although the ‘Zone itself is blaming the budget for its situation, some have argued that there’s more to the story.
Russ Mould, who is an investment director at AJ Bell, told the Independent: ‘Putting the blame for a major profit warning on the Budget seems a poor fit… Perhaps Shoe Zone’s offering isn’t resonating with shoppers as much as it used to.
‘At the very least, you would hope management is looking at what’s gone wrong rather than attributing everything to external factors.’
Which Shoe Zone stores will close?
It has not yet revealed which stores these are, or how many will be affected. The company has also not given any information as to when we will find out more about which branches will get the chop, so right now we’re sort of in Shoe-limbo. We will upload this page as and when more information becomes available.
Whatever happens, hopefully this won’t be the complete end of Shoe Zone. Nowhere else can you buy a pair of flip-flops to take to Spain for £3.50, and that’s something we don’t want to lose.
Time Out and the British high street
As the custodian of British city life with all its ups and downs, we at Time Out have up-to-date info about what’s closing, what’s new in the retail world and everything in-between. Here’s the full list of UK high street stores closing in 2024, info on Sephora which is opening 20 new UK stores and where exactly Caffe Nero is opening cafés in John Lewis and Waitrose shops across the UK.
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