AN outdoor sports store is set to close its flagship site after falling into administration.
Chain Reaction will lower the shutters for the last time next month.
The online motorcycle shop will close its shop in Belfast in February.
This comes after the company, which operates as Wiggle CRC, moved into management in October.
The collapsed company, which includes Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles and the Vitus and Nukeproof cycling brands, became insolvent after losing the financial support of parent company Signa Sports United.
The news of the store’s closure was announced on social media in an emotional message.
A spokesperson for the store wrote: “Dear customers, we are informing you that our retail store on Boucher Road, Belfast will be completed next month.
“We sincerely appreciate the support from all our customers over the past 12 years.
“We will continue to serve all our customers through our online store, chainreactioncycles.com, where you can shop our full range and receive support, warranty, and aftercare services from our customer service team.”
The post goes on to say that a massive sale will be held to clean up the inventory, this includes discounts of up to 60%.
He continues to function as usual.
Hundreds of shoppers have reacted to the closure.
One said: “The service has been excellent. I’m sorry to hear you’re closing. I wish you all the best. “
Another wrote: “Sad times, a great loss for our small country to lose the CRC store. “
A third commented: “Very very sad news. I have been a customer and a friend of the fabulous CRC Boucher team since day one.
“This is a difficult time for the local and even global cycling industry, which is wasting such a wonderful asset. ”
A fourth wrote: “It’s a real shame. It was a store. I’ve travelled several times from Dublin to make a stopover there. “
A fifth wrote: “This is just the beginning, we are going to see a lot of bikes nearby. . . “
“It will be sad to see it close. I enjoyed this store so much I spent money on it,” said another.
The Sun reached out to reveal the precise date of Chain Reaction’s closure.
Wiggle CRC was a merger between two of the UK’s leading online cycling retailers in 2016.
Then in October 2023, shortly after taking control, administrators axed more than 100 jobs and the company halted international deliveries.
Mike Ashley and Halfords’ Frasers Group were said to be among those interested in buying the business late last year.
None have taken a position yet.
Bike has struggled in recent months as independent outlets and giant chains close their stores.
Last September, Velorution, an urban cycling chain, announced that it would close its 4 outlets and cease operations that month.
The same month, Ride in Coventry also closed its doors for the last time after 25 years.
The Cambridge branch of Rutland Cycling, which has 14 shops, closed in October.
Cytek Repairs and Spares, near Stroud, had been in business for 25 years before the last time on Nov. 4.
Earlier this month, Scotby Cycles’ in Cumberland, revealed it would be shutting its doors after more than 40 years.
Halfords lowers the shutters of his Merry Hill Center in Dudley on Jan. 26.
It comes after the chain also closed its Wragby Road store in Lincoln in November, as well as its branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in October.
Retailers have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year and more are on their way.
Several major brands have also collapsed, such as Wilko and Paperchase.
Many e-retailers are struggling to cope with the situation, especially the Covid-19 pandemic.
Energy prices have risen, and more and more shoppers are opting to order online instead of going to the store.
This has left some retailers grappling with budgets and have no choice but to close stores to cut costs.
British retailers saw the amount of goods they sold drop last month at its fastest rate in three years as under-pressure families shifted part of their Christmas shop to earlier in the year.
Sales volume fell by 3. 2% in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Friday, up from 1. 4% in the previous month.
Several primary chains are reducing their shutters for the last time this month.
Jack Wills in Worcester has announced that he will make it permanently on January 30.
Boots has revealed that it will close three hundred outlets over the next year as part of its plan to grow its brand.
The Co-op chain lowers the shutters at its branch in Peacehaven, East Sussex, on January 20.
The Flannels site in Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton, will pull down its shutters on January 24, according to local news reports.
Fashion chain Peacocks will lower the shutters of its store in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on January 25.
Entertainment store HMV will close its branch in Boston, Lincolnshire, on January 27.
And the hospitality sector has also been affected, with pubs like Wetherspoons and restaurants like Frankie seeing their doors
In addition, the UK nightclub operator, with 50 venues, is in jeopardy as it plans to hire managers.
Elsewhere, Body Shop enthusiasts shared their dismay after the store announced it would be closing a major service in a few weeks.
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