Blow to high street as shops announce closure

KIRKCALDY has been hit with a double whammy of shop closures, piling further pressure on the High Street.

Semichem has announced it will shut on February 24 after a decline in footfall left the store too “financially challenged” to continue.

The company is in discussions with the eight staff members in the hope they can be transferred to other branches.

Fashion chain Next has also announced it is closing its High Street store on March 31 to concentrate on its larger shop at the retail park.

Talks with staff regarding possible transfers are ongoing.

With the former BHS and Tesco stores still lying empty and uncertainty over the future of New Look, which revealed it is closing 60 of its 600 UK branches, fears have again been expressed for the future of the High Street.

Neil Crooks, chairman of Fife Council’s Kirkcaldy area committee, said the closures were the continuation of a national trend as shoppers increasingly turn to the internet.

“It’s a sad change but there’s no sign of it stopping, which is worrying for people who work in that industry,” he said.

Mr Crooks said the council had taken steps to address what it could control over the last five years and claimed further initiatives in the pipeline could help.

“The council doesn’t run shops but we’re doing what we can to attract people to the High Street,” he said.

One idea is to have more unique, independent retailers operating centrally and plans are afoot to open a shop where people can rent shelves to sell their wares.

“That will probably be open by the end of March and it will allow people who make things to have a presence on the High Street,” Mr Crooks said.

“Hopefully, they’ll be able to go on and open a shop of their own once they get going.”