Fashion retailer River Island has announced that it intends to shut dozens of stores across the UK. A major restructure of the chain will see 33 shops close.
River Island currently operates 230 stores across the UK and Ireland, employing around 5,500 people. As well as shutting 33 of those shops, the chain has also revealed that 71 more locations are under review, pending rent negotiations with landlords.
The brand has blamed the shift to online shopping and rising operational costs for the closures, with chief executive Ben Lewis saying in a statement that River Island’s store portfolio is ‘no longer aligned to our customers’ needs’.
He said: ‘River Island is a much-loved retailer, with a decades-long history on the British high street.’
‘However, the well-documented migration of shoppers from the high street to online has left the business with a large portfolio of stores that is no longer aligned to our customers’ needs. The sharp rise in the cost of doing business over the last few years has only added to the financial burden.’
This week, exactly which 33 River Island shops are set to close has been revealed. Here’s what you need to know.
Full list of River Island locations closing in the UK
The following outposts of River Island will shut before January 2026.
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Bangor Bloomfield, Northern Ireland
- Barnstaple, Devon
- Beckton, Greater London
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire
- Cumbernauld, Scotland
- Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Edinburgh Princes Street, Scotland
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Great Yarmouth
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire
- Hanley, Staffordshire
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Hereford, Herefordshire
- Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Kirkcaldy, Scotland
- Leeds Birstall Park, West Yorkshire
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland
- Northwich, Cheshire
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Perth, Scotland
- Poole, Dorset
- Rochdale, Greater Manchester
- St Helens, Merseyside
- Stockton On Tees, County Durham
- Surrey Quays, Greater London
- Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
- Taunton, Somerset
- Workington, Cumbria
- Wrexham, Wales
Which Poundland shops are closing? Brand has confirmed that 68 UK stores will shut for good.
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