Thorntons the chocolate maker established in Sheffield by Joseph William Thornton and his father, in 1911 has announced that all 61 of its UK shops will remain closed once the latest lockdown in the UK ends.
The company which was purchased by the Italian firm Ferrero in June 2015 for £112m has been hit hard by the pandemic. Stores were forced to close during the key Christmas and Easter holidays.
Thorntons retail director Adam Goddard said:
“The obstacles we have faced and will continue to face on the High Street are too severe,”
“Despite our best efforts we have taken the difficult decision to permanently close our retail store estate.”
10-Year Decline for Thorntons
The demise of chocolate maker has been gradual but spanning a decade.
In 2011, Thorntons started to massively reduce the number of stores in High Street and shopping centre locations. At the time the company said it would close around half of the 364 stores it had at the time. Having been purchased by Ferrero, Thorntons has more recently focused on supermarket distribution and closing some unprofitable stores.
However, the lockdown and subsequent closure of UK high street shops for much of 2020 and 2021, is taking its toll. Despite online sales increasing by 70%, this is not enough to save the 61 shops from closure.
The company was Ferrero in June 2015 for £112m and saw its store count dwindle to just 61. Now, it is zero with 600 jobs at risk.
Sadly, this is not the first or last big retail outlet disappearing from the UK’s high streets. According to figures from the Local Data Company, over 17,500 chain stores and other venues closed in Great Britain in 2020. This works out to be around 48 closures every day and includes some big-name casualties including Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins.
Recently, retail giant John Lewis warned of further “painful” store closures after the pandemic saw the company report its first-ever annual loss. Consumer spending in the UK is also lower. The latest data shows Brits are optimistic but spending less.
