B&M plans more stores despite closures
Discount retailer B&M says it is planning to open more stores over the coming year, despite a number of closures set to take place within the next two months.
The retailer says the closures are not linked to the state of the high street but instead are due to factors such as relocation.
The closures follow the recent shutting of B&M’s store in the Castlegate Shopping Centre in Stockton, which is set to relocate into an old M&S site and due to open in the next few days.
B&M’s store at Maesglas Retail Park in Newport is set to shut on March 4, while its Kilmarnock store at Queens Drive Retail Park is due to shut later this month, after moving across town to Glencairn Retail Park.
The retailer’s store at Bristol’s Broadwalk Shopping Centre will close in April, with the scheme set to be demolished.
B&M is also due to relocate a Scunthorpe store in North Lincolnshire Shopping Park to a larger unit in a former Debenhams store within the same retail park. It is also opening a new store in Barnsley later this month.
B&M has enjoyed strong sales and market share as the cost-of-living crisis squeezes consumer budgets, reporting a 12.3% increase in like-for-like revenue for the third quarter of its 2023 financial year.