River Island to Close 32 UK Stores in 2026

River Island, the British fashion retailer, plans to close 32 stores across the United Kingdom in January 2026 as part of a restructuring effort to address ongoing financial challenges. The closures, affecting locations from England to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, follow a pretax loss of 32.3 million pounds reported for the previous year, with company turnover declining 15 percent to 578.1 million pounds.

The move comes after the High Court approved the company's restructuring plan in August, aimed at aligning its store portfolio with shifting customer preferences amid a broader shift toward online shopping. River Island currently operates more than 200 outlets in the UK and employs over 5,000 people, leaving hundreds of jobs at risk, though the company has stated it will work to minimize redundancies. Earlier this year, the retailer cut 210 positions as part of initial cost-saving measures.

The affected stores include sites in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire; Bangor Bloomfield, Northern Ireland; Barnstaple, Devon; Beckton, Greater London; Brighton, East Sussex; and Burton-upon-Trent, Derbyshire, among others. Additional closures are slated for Cumbernauld, Scotland; Didcot,...