You can’t miss the fact that it is shutting up shop.
York’s Homebase store is plastered inside and out with ‘Everything Must Go’ signs as it prepares to close for good.
The DIY store at the Foss Islands Road retail park is selling up and moving out of York.
It will close on July 4. In the meantime, it is selling off its stock at sale prices.
‘Disappointing’ performance
The owners of Homebase announced in February it was looking to close up to 40 stores in the UK.
Australian group Wesfarmers paid £340m for the DIY chain in early 2016. But it put Homebase under review after a “disappointing” performance with losses of £97m expected in the first half of 2018.
A Homebase spokesperson told YorkMix: “We can confirm that our store on Foss Islands Retail Park, York is set to close on 4 July. Our priority now is to continue supporting team members.”
The company declined to reveal how many staff work at the store, and what their options were. And it wouldn’t answer questions about why it had chosen to close its York store in particular.
After July the nearest Homebase stores to York will be at Selby, Harrogate and Leeds.
Latest to go
The demise of Homebase is the latest in a string of stores to close.
Just last month Carpetright said it was axing the store close by on Foss Islands Road.
In March, it was revealed that shops including Evans, TopShop and Miss Selfridge were leaving Monks Cross Shopping Park in September.
And on Coney Street, once York’s premiere shopping street, River Island became the latest to leave.