A popular high street outdoor clothing chain is closing one of its stores next week. Trespass is closing its Highcross shopping centre in Leicester for good on Monday, March 31.
The clothing retailer put up yellow “closing down” signs last month reading “everything must go” and slashed prices across its ranges by up to 60%. The reason behind the closure has not been confirmed by Trespass and it is uncertain what will happen to staff working at the site.
The shop will be open over the weekend from 9am to 8pm on Saturday, and from 11am until 5pm on Sunday. On Monday, the site will be open for the final time from 9:30am until 7pm.
However, the move has not come as a surprise to locals online, with some joing that the branch has been “on its way out” for the last decade. One Facebook post read: “They’ve been having closing down sales for at least 10 years.” In response, another said: “Far longer than 10 years! I would wager all of their shops have been having closing down sales since they were founded in 1981.”
Someone else added: “Is it still closing down? I left Leicester in 2015, and I’m sure it had signs up then.” Stores close sites for various reasons, and it’s important to note that this doesn’t always mean the retailer is struggling.
Often businesses close a particular branch if it is not performing or when a lease is coming to an end. The closure comes just weeks after Trespass closed its Hillstreet Shopping Centre branch in Middlesbrough.
Trespass first opened the site in August 2022 after taking over the space from Monsoon. However, in January, huge yellow and black “closing down” and “everything must go signs” were placed in the windows of the Trespass store.
On the closure, one shopper noted that the move was a blow to the Middlesborough high street. They said: “The days of high street shopping are over unless you are a coffee shop, restaurant, or some large store with a good national reputation.”
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According to its website, Trespass has around 300 stores worldwide, with the majority of those stores based in the UK. In 2023, the outdoor retailer appeared to be closing six of its UK outlets, including branches in Derby, Harrogate, Solihull and Canterbury. According to local reports, a number of sites had “closing down sale” signs placed into stores. At the time the Derby Trespass store was closed as a “commercial decision taken by the store”.
At the time, Trespass did not issue statements or confirm the reasons behind the other closures. The brand also did not confirm how many staff may have been impacted by the move. However, some of the stores earmarked for closure didn’t end up shutting down for good and instead moved locations.
The Norwich store moved from Chantry Place to the Castle Quarter, re-opening in November 2024. The Trespass site in Workington also moved to another town centre unit after initially announcing a permanent closure in 2023.
Trespass opened its first retail stores in the 1990s although the brand first established itself way back in the 1930s. It specialises in outdoor clothing, accessories and essentials like tents, sleeping bags and hiking gear.
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