Booths has confirmed plans to close its supermarket in Ripon, North Yorkshire, blaming “significantly increased costs”.
The retailer is currently consulting with the affected 95-strong store team, all of whom are expected to transfer to Tesco, which will take over the lease of the 18,000 sq ft site.
“Since opening in 2009 we have worked hard to refine the offer and improve performance at Ripon, but the challenges of significantly increased operating costs have meant that we cannot see a future where the store will be profitable under the Booths model,” a Booths spokeswoman said, confirming the planned closure.
Booths has not confirmed when the consultation is due to finish, or a final date of closure.
“Closing any store is a very difficult decision however we are working to protect all jobs in this process,” the spokeswoman said. “We would also like to provide some reassurance that we have no current plans to exit any of our other stores.”
The closure would leave the family-owned grocer with 25 stores, in Yorkshire, Cheshire, Cumbria and its Lancashire heartland.
It follows the shuttering of Booths’ Hale Barns store in Manchester, last year, as the premium grocer has struggled to cope with what executive chairman Edwin Booth warned were the “extraordinary effects” of Covid-19, rising inflation and the wider cost of living crisis on shopping habits over the past couple of years.
Sales improved in the year to March 2024 after a “record Christmas” and a boost from its store investment plan, which has focused on improving customer service and its premium store experience. However, a £1.6m group pre-tax loss was its second consecutive year in the red.
Budget costs putting pressure on Booths
Booths is facing further pressure this year as a result of Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget, which added £6m to its employment costs annually in National Insurance contributions and increase to the minimum wage.
“You can read our accounts, we make at best £7m-£8m from direct operations so it’s a really significant amount,” executive chairman Nigel Murray told The Grocer at the Food & Drink Expo in Birmingham in March. However Booths insisted that these costs have no bearing on the decision to close the Ripon store.
“You have to look at it with two hats on. There is no moral argument to suggest that you should not pay those who earn the least in society more. But what would be great is if we got some more notice to enable us to build the cash required,” Murray said.
Ultimately Booths would have to adjust to mitigate the costs, Murray admitted. He did not mention any plans to close stores at the time. Instead, Booths would look to grow its manufacturing business, by making more of its own-label products itself, but also by working with more partners, which include a number of foodservice companies.
“One thing we are not changing is our focus and investment on colleagues in stores,” Murray said. “It’s not like we are all of a sudden going to take the counters our and move the cafés – they’re too important to us.”
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