{"id":105781,"date":"2025-03-10T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=105781"},"modified":"2025-03-10T10:33:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T10:33:24","slug":"popular-shoe-retailer-close-store-60-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/popular-shoe-retailer-close-store-60-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Shoe Retailer to Close Long-Standing High Street Store After 60 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Independent shoe retailer A.G. Meek <\/strong>has announced it will permanently close its Gloucester store in early April 2025, citing rising business costs and declining footfall. As reported by The Sun<\/a>, the closure comes as the company faces higher employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and a reduction in business rate relief, making it increasingly difficult to stay profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Is A.G. Meek Closing Its Gloucester Store?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A.G. Meek has been a fixture on Eastgate Street for decades, but like many independent retailers<\/a>, it has struggled to recover from the pandemic. Owner David Meek<\/strong> revealed that the store has been operating at a loss for some time, and the upcoming financial changes made closure unavoidable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posting on Facebook<\/strong>, Meek explained:
“We have been struggling with rapidly rising costs and reduced footfall since the pandemic, and the shop has not been covering its costs.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that recent government policies have worsened the situation:
“I have held off hoping things would improve, but the recent budget is a disaster for small businesses employing lots of part-time staff like ours. Our national insurance on one shop and our business rates are increasing by \u00a35,000 a year each from April, and this is unsustainable.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What This Means for Customers and Employees<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The closure will leave A.G. Meek <\/strong>with just four remaining stores, all in Wales. To clear remaining stock, the Gloucester store has launched a closing down sale, offering discounts on branded footwear. Additionally, customers who make a purchase will receive a \u00a310 voucher to use on the retailer\u2019s website or other store locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoppers and locals have expressed sadness over the news, with one customer commenting:
“This is a sad day. I love the shoes that you sell. And the brands that you carry are just lush.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another said:
“This is so sad to read, as your business is part of the fabric of Gloucester’s history.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Broader Impact on Independent Retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A.G. Meek\u2019s closure <\/strong>is part of a wider trend affecting independent businesses. The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) reported that 2024 was one of the most challenging years for small shop owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Goodacre, BIRA CEO<\/strong>, explained:
“Consumer spending on non-food items has declined significantly, while persistent footfall problems and fragile consumer confidence have impacted high streets nationwide.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the Centre for Retail Research predicts that 14,660 independent retailers could close in 2025 due to rising costs, reduced consumer spending, and increased competition from larger chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With business rates and wage increases taking effect from April, many small retailers fear they could be the next to shut their doors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A well-known shoe retailer is set to close its Gloucester store after 60 years, citing rising costs and declining footfall as key challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":105786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105781"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105787,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105781\/revisions\/105787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}