This time, the bad news come from home improvement retailer B&Q. On 20th March 2019, it emerged that this DIY chain store would be reducing the number of shops it currently has in the UK. B&Q representatives confirmed that a total of 15 shops will be closing over a period of 2 years.
It appears that the decision to close some of B&Q’s locations is connected to the company’s poor financial results. After reviewing its figures in January 2019, B&Q’s parent company Kingfisher reported a significant decline in pre-tax profits, which dropped by more than 50 per cent over the past year, as well as a 3 per cent drop in sales.
B&Q is also experiencing some internal turmoil following the anticipated resignation of its current CEO, Veronique Laury. Recently, the multinational retailer confirmed that it is actively looking for a new CEO, although it did not offer any names as to who will be Laury's successor.
Also in March, Kingfisher announced the closure of other retail outlets not only in the UK, but also in France, Romania, and Germany. But although some B&Q stores will be closing across Britain, Kingfisher plans to increase the UK presence of tools and hardware retailer Screwfix, which is the group’s best-performing company. Previous plans to establish 700 Screwfix outlets in the UK have been modified to reach 800 stores.
News in the same category
Asda announced two weeks ago the opening of their first 24/7 Click-and-Collect point in St Helen. It's not only Asda's first one, its simply the first in the whole country. And it's intelligent.
This means that some Londoners (and soon all of them) can benefit from Amazon's one hour delivery service on a selection of more than 10,000 products.
Shoppers in Edenbridge in Kent may be able to look forward to making some future savings on their shopping bills if new plans go ahead to potentially open a new Lidl and Home Bargains in the area.
Raspberry Pi are to open a store in the university city of Cambridge, veering away from the increasing retail trend toward online. Cambridge is significant as this is where the Raspberry Pi pocket computer was designed.
