Smiggle has launched a closing down sale at its Redditch store in Worcestershire, with discounts of up to 70%, ahead of its final day of trading on February 22. The shop, located at the Kingfisher Shopping Centre, first opened in 2017 and has been a popular destination for families and stationery enthusiasts.
The closure marks another blow to the local high street, which has seen a number of empty units and reduced choice for shoppers. Smiggle, founded in Melbourne in 2003 and expanded into the UK in 2014, once operated more than 130 stores nationwide, but now runs only 94 UK outlets according to its website.
This latest shutdown follows a series of other Smiggle closures across the UK, including branches in Shrewsbury and Inverness in May 2025, Cwmbran Shopping Centre in August 2025, Salisbury in January 2026, Dundee in 2023, and a recent vacating of its premises on Coney Street in York. The broader retail sector is also under pressure, with the Centre for Retail Research forecasting over 17,000 store closures in the UK in 2025 alone.
Industry experts attribute the difficulties to rising rents, higher business rates, increased energy bills, growing National Insurance contributions, and a higher National Minimum Wage. Shoppers have expressed frustration online, with one Facebook user describing the Kingfisher Shopping Centre as 'like a ghost town' and another saying it was 'sad to see yet another shop closing down'.
Despite the closures, Smiggle continues to trade in several major towns and cities, including five stores in London, five in Greater Manchester, five in and around Birmingham, as well as outlets in Bristol, Liverpool, Oxford, Derby, Stratford-upon-Avon, Sheffield, Leicester, and Nottingham.
