High street fashion retailer River Island has confirmed plans to close 33 of its profitable branches for good by the end of January 2026. The decision comes as the family-owned business grapples with significant financial losses and a strategic shift in response to changing shopping habits.
Mounting Losses and a Strategic Restructure
The company announced the closures after suffering losses of £33.2 million in recent years. This financial strain was compounded by a 19% fall in sales, which bosses attributed to shoppers increasingly buying online and the rising costs of operating physical stores.
In a bid to secure its future, the retailer, founded in 1948, brought in advisers earlier this year to oversee a major restructuring. This process led to a last-minute rescue package being approved at the High Court in August. The court heard that without this plan, River Island would likely have entered an insolvency process.
Jobs Saved and Jobs at Risk
The closure plan puts hundreds of jobs at immediate risk across the 33 locations. However, the company also confirmed that 71 other branches have been saved after it successfully negotiated reduced rents with landlords. This forms part of a broader strategy to align its store estate with modern customer needs.
Chief executive Ben Lewis stated: "We have a clear transformation strategy to ensure the long-term viability of the business, and this decision gives us a strong platform to deliver this." He added that recent improvements in fashion offerings were showing positive results and thanked stakeholders for their support.
The Full List of Closing Stores
The 33 River Island branches scheduled to close by January 2026 are spread across the UK. The full list is as follows:
- Beckton, Greater London
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Bangor
- Bloomfield, Northern Ireland
- Barnstaple, Devon
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire
- Cumbernauld, Scotland
- Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Edinburgh Princes Street, Scotland
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Great Yarmouth
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire
- Hanley, Staffordshire
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Hereford, Herefordshire
- Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Kirkcaldy, Scotland
- Leeds Birstall Park, West Yorkshire
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland
- Northwich, Cheshire
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Perth, Scotland
- Poole, Dorset
- Rochdale, Greater Manchester
- St Helens, Merseyside
- Surrey Quays, Greater London
- Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
- Taunton, Somerset
- Workington, Cumbria
- Wrexham, Wales
The company's representative at the High Court, Matthew Weaver KC, warned that the business had been unable to reverse a trend of financial difficulty, forecasting a £43 million shortfall and an inability to pay its debts from late summer 2025 without intervention.
