Poundland and River Island closing stores and Morrisons closing bakery in 2026

A Morrisons representative explained: “Since the restructuring of the Rathbones business in early 2025 the team have been working hard to try and build a future for the business as a smaller, more focused supplier of specialist bakery products. Since then, the trading conditions in the bakery market have become even more challenging and despite a tremendous effort by the whole team to develop new markets, volumes and sales have declined significantly, exacerbated by the loss of a large third party customer, with cost increases and the return of inflation also having a significant impact on the competitiveness of the business. As a result, the sales performance has fallen well below that envisaged by the recovery plan, with the business continuing to report significant losses.”

Poundland is closing more stores in February after dozens of its branches shut down in 2025. The retailer’s restructuring plan will bring the total number of closures to 100. Darren MacDonald, Poundland’s UK country manager, said: “We know how disappointing it is when we leave a store, but before we close our doors for a final time, we’re determined to say goodbye by offering even more amazing value to customers. The special reductions, on top of the value we provide in every store, will help us leave locations we’re leaving with pride.”

Fashion retailer River Island closed 32 stores in January after reporting a £32.3million pre-tax loss last year.  The retailer said the main challenges have been the rise of online shopping and high operating costs.