A MAJOR retail store has made a "very disappointing" decision to close on of its Worcestershire branches in the coming weeks.

Clothing retailer Next is preparing to shut its store in the Malvern Retail Park on Wednesday, May 1.

Cllr Beverley Nielsen, economic development portfolio holder for Malvern Hills District Council, said her thoughts were with the staff and she hopes the unit will soon be taken up by a new retailer.

One user mentioned home furnisher retailer Dunelm should take over the unit, while another felt it should be turned into a cafe.

It comes after the company revealed it would be closing down a handful of its UK stores last year for various reasons, with the precise locations unknown at the time.

In September last year, Next said: "We expect to close 11 mainline stores this year.

"Six closures are in locations where we forecast that the store would not achieve our target margin on almost any terms; two closures are due to the site being redeveloped; three further closures are as a result of being unable to agree acceptable new terms with landlords.

"This last category includes one large store where the length of the lease proposed by the landlord, on a high fixed rent charge, was not something we could agree to."

Now, Next has confirmed that Malvern would be one of the stores ceasing trade, but it did not reveal the specific reason for the decision.

A spokesperson for Next said: "We can confirm that our Next store in Malvern Retail Park will cease trade on 1st May.

"Unfortunately we have no further information at this time."

Worcester News has contacted Next for further information including if the impending closure will lead to staff redundancies.

Cllr Nielsen said: “Obviously this is a corporate decision and Next did announce last year it would be closing down 11 stores around the country citing various issues behind this decision.

"We are very sorry to hear the Next Store in Malvern retail park is now due for closure.

"Perhaps one of the issues behind this relates to even more online purchasing as according to their last results (November 2023), online sales increased 6.5% while store sales fell 0.6%.

"It is, however, very disappointing news and we are thinking of staff affected by this impending closure and hope the unit will soon be taken up by a new retailer creating new opportunities.”

People have been reacting to the news across social platforms, even going as far as to suggest what should replace it.

One user mentioned home furnisher retailer Dunelm should take over the unit, while another felt it should be turned into a cafe.