The shake-up will help secure the future of 99 stores and around 1,800 jobs across the arts and crafts business
08:40, 10 Jun 2025Updated 14:46, 11 Jun 2025
Nine Hobbycraft stores to shut in days with full list of branches confirmed
Nine Hobbycraft stores are set to shut in DAYS as part of a huge restructuring – and they’ve launched closing down sales.
The shake-up will help secure the future of 99 stores and around 1,800 jobs across the arts and crafts business, Hobbycraft said. The full list includes Canterbury, Kent – which is not yet closed, Basildon, Essex – June 21 and Borehamwood, Hertfordshire – June 21.
It also includes Bristol, Imperial Retail Park – June 21, Dunstable, Bedfordshire – June 21 and Epping Forest, Essex – June 21 too as well as Lakeside Shopping Centre, Essex – June 21, Cirencester, Gloucestershire -June 21 and Bagshot, Surrey – June 21.
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Hobbycraft CEO Alex Wilson said: “For many, our stores are more than just arts and crafts supplies – they’re places of creativity and inspiration. Closing stores is always a last resort and this has been an extremely difficult decision.”
In addition to store closures, redundancies are expected at the company’s head office in Bournemouth and its Burton-on-Trent distribution centre, though exact figures have not been disclosed.
“Another one bites the dust for South Bristol!” wrote one shopper. “There’ll be nothing left soon.” Another posted: “No! First Home Sense, now Hobbycraft.”
Hobbycraft chief executive officer Wilson said: “Very sadly, the strength of our offering has not made us immune from the challenges faced by the retail sector in recent years. Closing stores is always a last resort and this has been an extremely difficult decision.
“Making these changes is sadly a necessary action to enable us to keep our doors open to crafters up and down the country.”
Hobbycraft, which is a retail park staple in the UK, said nine stores will stop trading by mid-July, affecting between 72 and 126 jobs.
It added that the future of “a number of other stores” is still being reviewed.