Major supermarket confirms store closure in latest blow to struggling high street

A major supermarket chain has announced it’s closing a branch nearly a decade after opening.

Budget frozen food retailer Iceland has announced that its store in Margate will close for good in June.

Iceland, which has about 900 stores nationwide, closed all its branches on the Channel Islands last year.

So far, the shutters of Iceland stores in London, Borehamwood, Exeter and Derby have gone down for good this year.

The next Iceland to go will be in College Square, a shopping centre just by Margate’s Old Town neighbourhood.

Staff have been told that the last day Iceland will be open is June 21, according to KentOnline.

Iceland said: ‘We can confirm our Margate Iceland store will close.

‘Our store colleagues have entered into a consultation process and have been offered opportunities at surrounding stores where possible.’

More than 13,000 high street stores closed in 2024, according to the Centre for Retail Research, or about 37 shops a day.

The figure is expected to rise to 17,350 this year, with some 14,500 independent retailers expected to shutter.

Among the hardest-hit major retailers are WH Smith, Morrisons and GAME as well as banks such as Lloyds and Halifax.

Scars from the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis have been blamed for the store closures.

While Iceland’s presence on the high street has shrunk, the company’s spin-off Food Warehouse stores are flourishing.

Launched in 2014, the big-box stores are often located in large retail parks and sell groceries in bulk.

Iceland has opened 11 Food Warehouses, with plans to bring this number to 21 this year.

Retail parks are the place to be, The British Retail Consortium said in March.

Between rising car park fees and changes in shopping habits, fewer people are hitting the high street to shop, instead going to retail centres.

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