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A BELOVED outdoor retailer is set to shut up shop after nearly three decades in business.
The store has been trading from its shop in Northampton since 1997 and the owners have revealed why they’re moving out of town.
GoogleCycle King has been trading from its shop since 1997[/caption]
Cycle King opened in Kettering Road between the late 1990s and early 2000s.
But the company will move elsewhere as the four-storey building the store is located in is being marketed for £375,000 ahead of a public auction on May 22 by Stretton Auctions.
Cycle King’s director, Julian Thake, said: “We are looking to relocate to an out-of-town location.
“However, at this stage we have not managed to fully finalise the purchase, so are unable to confirm our proposed new location.”
Thake revealed the reason behind the move and expressed his pride at how long the store has been trading.
He said: “We have proudly traded in Northampton for nearly 28 years.
“In this time, there have been many changes to the retail environment which require assessment on how to best adapt for the future.
“The property has served us very well, however, it is showing its age in areas and has limitations for modern retail operation.
The building and its location boast great potential through redevelopment to contribute to the positive ongoing regeneration of the area.
“We believe that relocating to more suitable and efficient premises will allow us to provide a better experience for our customers and Cycle King and Hawk Cycles to continue to grow the business.”
With more than 23 locations nationwide, Cycle King has a 4.5 out of five-star rating from over 200 Google reviews
Happy customer, Simon, recently wrote: “I bought my bicycle here about three years ago and am still happily riding it!
“I have been in many times since for maintenance and repairs and have always had a good job done by the friendly and professional staff here.”
The closest branch to Northampton can be found at Milton Keynes and others are located Coventry, Cambridge, and Oxford.
Thake added: “Customers can be rest assured that we will continue to offer our great service in and around the Northampton area.”
The founder of the business opened his first bike shop in Sawbridgeworth back in 1972.
The brand became known as “The Cycle King” in the early 1980s.
The company then acquired Hawk Cycles bicycle factory in 1994, continuing to manufacture bikes until 2010.
They then merged with Cycle King, forming the retailer seen today.
Cycle King and Hawk Cycles marked 50 years in business in 2018.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
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