Poundland to close King Street store in South Shields as "numbers simply don’t stack up"

Poundland on King Street, South Shields will close in March 2020.

On Friday, March 6, the Poundland store in South Shields will be closing.

The shop is currently based at 100 – 102 King Street.

The company confirmed to the Gazette that it would be closing due to an issue with rent and a dispute with business rates transitional relief.

A spokesman for Poundland said: "We're as disappointed as our colleagues and customers to be closing our King Street store on March 6. It's a great place and we'd love to return.

“Sadly we haven’t been able to get a new rental agreement with our landlord at South Shields that would allow us to keep trading.

“That, alongside the unfairness of business rates transitional relief, means the numbers simply don’t stack up, even for a growing retailer like us.”

Poundland is not the first to have to close in this area of the town.

Over the past five years, King Street has seen many other stores close including H Samuel, Vision Express, Burton, Mothercare and BHS.

Poundland’s previous close competitor Poundworld closed back in 2018 after the company went into administration.

In January 2020, it was announced that an application had been lodged for ‘prior notification of proposed demolition’ for a large section of King Street.

This includes numbers 79-99, which are described as being in a poor state of repair, and 1 East Street.