The largest toy chain is closing stores: what will happen to the employees.

According to The Sun: The largest toy chain in the UK has started a sale with a 25% discount ahead of the closing of one of its stores.

The Entertainer store, located in the Moor shopping center in Sheffield, will close on Saturday, October 11, according to the shopping center.

The Entertainer remains the largest toy store chain in the UK

As part of the "everything must go" promotion, prices of many items are reduced by 25%, but this does not apply to gift cards, products of the brands Lego, VTech, and LeapFrog.

Customers are already expressing their sadness over the store's closure, with one social media user remarking: “Another one has closed.”

Savers Health and Beauty Ltd has submitted plans to build in this space, concealing ready sketches of a new sign for the building.

This is not the first closure of The Entertainer this year—previously the store closed in cities such as Barrow-in-Furness, Croydon, Luton, and Wandsworth.

Recall that last week the chain announced serious changes in its operating schedule, which will create 200 new jobs.

For the first time in the chain's history, stores will open on Sundays.

The husband and wife founders, Gary and Catherine Grant, passed ownership of the company to their 1,900 employees in August.

They transferred the family business to an employee council, nearly 45 years after opening their first store in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

By January 2024, The Entertainer's pre-tax profit fell by 18%, amounting to £6.7 million, while sales volume decreased by 3.7% to £238.3 million.

The chain, despite its difficulties, remains the largest in the UK, with 160 stores across the country.

According to the latest data, the UK toy market grew by 8% in value in the year up to June.

However, this is just one positive signal in an overall gloomy market for many retailers.

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The British retail sector has been facing difficulties for a long time since the financial crisis of 2008, which experts call a “permanent crisis.” The pandemic and cost of living crisis dealt new blows to the industry, which is yet to recover.

E-commerce has also significantly impacted brick-and-mortar stores: in 2024, 34 retail chains closed.

These closures affected 7,537 stores and 55,914 employees in 2024 alone, according to the Centre for Retail Research.

In 2024, total retail sales in the UK amounted to £517 billion, indicating a 1.4% increase compared to 2023.

However, despite the slight growth, retail sales volumes remain below pre-pandemic levels.

During the same period, online sales increased from 19.5% to 27.6% of all retail sales, according to the Office for National Statistics.

RETAIL WOES IN 2025

The British Retail Consortium forecasts that the increase in the national insurance contribution for employers will cost the retail sector £2.3 billion.

Research from the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices before the beginning of April.

A survey of over 4,800 enterprises indicated that 55% expect price increases in the next three months, which is more than the 39% in a similar survey conducted in the second half of 2024.

Three-quarters of companies cited personnel retention costs as the main financial pressure.

The Centre for Retail Research also warned that around 17,350 retail outlets could close this year.

These events occur against the backdrop of a difficult 2024, when 13,000 stores closed, which is already 28% more than the previous year.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR, noted: “The results of 2024 show that while the total number of store closures was not as dire as in 2020 or 2022, the situation still raises concern, and worse is expected in 2025.”

Professor Bamfield also warned of gloomy prospects for 2025, predicting that the sector may lose up to 202,000 jobs.

“With rising costs of maintaining stores and financial pressure on households, it is quite likely that we will see job losses in retail exceed the pandemic peak in 2020.”