As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the businesses Sutton lost in 2024.
This year, several well-known companies, including Boots, entered administration.
While some of these businesses were acquired and reopened under new ownership, others now sit as vacant units.
Below are four businesses that we lost in Sutton.
Boots
In June 2023, Boots’ parent company – the Walgreens Boots Alliance – announced that it would be closing 300 of its pharmacies, and the Pharmaceutical Journal reported that all of these closures would be completed by the end of the summer.
A total of seven south London stores closed down this year, with one of them being in Sutton.
The Boots store on 2 Station Way in Cheam faced closure this year.
A spokesperson for Walgreens Boots Alliance said at the time: “Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment.”
Carpetright
Carpetright entered administration on July 22 with PwC appointed to oversee the process.
The administrator said the business had faced “challenging trading conditions, predominantly due to changing consumer preferences and a drop in home improvement spending post-pandemic”.
The Sutton store on Mulgrave Road was not acquired by Tapi and closed down in the summer.
A statement on the Carpetright website says: “We are desperately sad not to have been able to save more of the business and customer orders.
“However, as we looked into the details of the situation, we quickly established that saving the entire business was unviable.
“Carpetright has been materially loss making for a number of years, and it has significant debt held by the owner.
“We believe that we were the only offer that the administrator received that saved a large number of roles.
“We were also mindful of how the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may view a larger deal.”
Farmfoods
Farmfoods closed this year after being on the Sutton scene for more than 10 years.
The frozen food supermarket closed on October 5 after the landlord said he wanted to redevelop the site.
Alistair Kay, Property Director at Farmfoods Limited, said at the time: “The closure is due to our landlord intending to redevelop the land the building sits on.
“No other Farmfoods shops are affected.
“We’re grateful to all our customers for their loyalty shopping with us at the site over the years and will continue to look for suitable opportunities to reopen in Sutton in future.”
B&Q
B&Q closed in June this year after “unsuccessful negotiations” to renew its lease.
The store on Sutton Court Road will now be transformed into residential space, with nearly 1,000 flats.
Despite the council’s approval, many people said it would turn the Sutton into an “urban dystopia”.
A spokesperson for B&Q at the time commented: “Due to unsuccessful negotiations to renew the lease at our Sutton Court Road store we will be closing our doors on 8 June 2024.
“In preparation for this closure and to ensure we can continue to serve local residents, last year we opened a B&Q Local store on Sutton High Street where customers can continue to shop for all their home improvement needs.
“In addition to our new Sutton store, we have recently opened nine other B&Q Local stores across London at: Holloway Road, Wandsworth, Tooting, Wood Green, Harrow, Streatham, Camden, Palmers Green, and Staines and new store openings remain at the heart of our retail growth strategy.”