Yesterday there were reports that beleaguered British retailer Grainger Games was in financial trouble and would close around a third of its stores to struggle on. Its website went offline too, with just the single page below on display. Today, with continuing (or selling off) the business as a going concern seemingly out of options, the firm has decided it will be closing down all its stores. The approx 400 staff across 68 UK stores will get paid up until Saturday 31st March.
Yesterday's Grainger Games website, today its all gone dark
Grainger Games reported a loss of £1.3 million in 2017. Last week its supplier credit limits were cut, which is very bad news for such a business. Then yesterday 21 of Grainger's stores received an email saying:
"We regret to inform you that we require you to close your store imminently due to the ongoing issues surrounding the business's critical financial situation. Your store will unfortunately be closed as of today. Please DO NOT open your store this morning."
Today the situation appears to be much worse as it looks like cutting a third of stores down isn't enough to keep the business afloat. The staff at the remaining 46 stores got an email matching that received by the 21 stores on Wednesday, saying "Please DO NOT open your store this morning."
With all the shops shuttered, staff have been asked to work on packing up stock for asset sales or returns to suppliers. You can see the processes that they have been asked to undertake in the copy of the email above, as shared by Kotaku. As mentioned in the intro, all staff will be paid for all hours worked up to 31st March.
The UK high street has been hit very hard in the last few months in what seems to be another cycle of closures, similar to that seen in 2008/9. Earlier this year we noted Maplin was headed down the plughole, and Toys R Us is in the process of closing down in the UK and US. Many commentators blame competition from internet retailers for the highstreet electronics and games store demise.
