// B&M is shuttering 4 stores – in Newport, Stockton, Kilmarnock and Bristol
// The discount retailer insists the closures are due to new stores opening and other external factors not the diminishing high street
B&M is set to shut more stores across the UK in the coming weeks, but the discount retailer has warned that it is “nothing to do with the diminishing high street”.
The retailer will close four stores in total across the UK, having already previously announced the closure of two locations, the Mirror reports.
According to the title, sites in Newport, Stockton, Kilmarnock and Bristol are to be affected.
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Unlike a host of retailers reducing their store portfolios amid the cost of living crisis as shoppers feel the pinch, B&M has insisted that the closures are not related to this factor.
At the start of the year, H&M said it would be closing four stores due to a rapid change in consumer behaviour while last week, Iceland also said it will permanently close at least six of its UK stores in the coming days and weeks.
But B&M, which currently has a portfolio of 700 sites, said that the closures are due to new stores opening and other external factors.
It comes as the retailer reported strong sales growth in the final quarter of last year as its UK like-for-like sales grew 6.4% in its key Christmas quarter, showing that shoppers sought out value options as they grappled with the cost-of-living crisis.
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