Shoe Zone has shut a further 36 stores in what has been a “challenging year” for the budget shoe retailer.
The UK-based footwear store, which sells various low-cost menswear, womenswear and kids' shoes, confirmed that over three dozen shopfronts had closed across the country in the 52 weeks since September 2024.
Addressing the latest closures, Charles Smith, chairman of the brand, said: “This was a challenging year, particularly in the second half, as consumer confidence fell following the Government’s October 2024 budget.”
“With persistent inflation, higher interest rates and reduced levels of disposable income all contributing to general negative economic and consumer sentiment in the UK.”
He added: “Sales were good when there was a clear reason to buy, such as the warm summer and the Back-To-School season.
“However, overall discretionary spending remains subdued as consumers exercise greater caution in their expenditure.”
Signalling the latest blow to the struggling UK high street, Shoe Zone now has 269 stores open across the country, dropping from 297 at the end of last year. However, reports also reveal that the retailer opened 11 new stores during this time.
Shoe Zone’s latest round of closures also came not long after the businesses revealed further closures last year, having deemed some of their locations “unviable.”
For the brand — which hilariously made headlines in 2021 for replacing its financial director, Peter Foot, with a man named Terry Boot — the last few years have proved challenging.
Despite stocking brands such as Clark’s, Hush Puppies, and Sketchers, shifting consumer appetite, soaring building rents, and a broader cost-of-living crisis impacting most customers mean Shoe Zone joins a growing cohort of companies faltering as the British High Street fades.
Which Shoe Zone shops are closing?
The bosses of the shoe business haven’t published a complete list of closing shops, but reports have named branches in Bexhill, Boscombe, and Bournemouth that have shuttered in recent months.
In December 2024, further reports named locations in London such as Wembley, Holloway and Harrow that could be on the chopping block, as well as branches in Leeds, York, Newcastle and Sheffield.
What other shops have closed this year?
Shoe Zone is far from the only business suffering on the UK High Street amid a general decline in retail over the last few years.
Between Brexit and Covid-19, shops haven’t had it easy, and it’s led to closures and staff losing their jobs.
From New Look and River Island to Homebase, Costa Coffee, and Poundland, many British-based businesses have reported financial losses and shop closures over the last few months alone.
Yet Brits continue to keep clicking, often finding online shopping much easier to navigate than a day out at the shopping centre.
