Fashion chain owned by H&M is to close all of its stores in fresh blow to the British high street

A fashion chain owned by H&M is set to close all its stores across to UK in a fresh blow to the high street.

Monki, which targets younger shoppers, will close the seven stores it has across the UK including a site on London‘s Carnaby Street and Manchester’s Arndale Centre.

The brand was known for its trendy designs and was popular among Gen Z shoppers for their trademark low-rise jeans.

However, shoppers may struggle to find its fashionable clothing come next year as the brand is set to removed from the high street.

The Scandinavian retail giant has said it will merge several of the stores with another one of its brands, Weekday.

Monki, which targets younger shoppers, will close the seven stores it has across the UK

The brand has stores on London ‘s Carnaby Street (pictured) and Manchester’s Arndale Centre

The brand was known for its trendy designs and was popular among Gen Z shoppers for their trademark low-rise jeans

A statement from H&M said: ‘A limited number of Monki stores are intended to be transformed into multi-brand Weekday destinations, while the others are intended to be closed.

‘The newly formed Weekday multi-brand destination will cater to customers’ high aesthetic standards, while embracing their multitude of unique expressions.

‘Being mindful about the changes this might entail for our colleagues; we look forward to this exciting new chapter on the way to something great.’

It was also announced by H&M will revive its Cheap Monday brand as part of the process and begin selling it in Weekday stores after a six year hiatus.

The fashion line was pulled from the shelves in 2018 after being a hit in the noughties with H&M citing poor sales.

Weekday currently has five stories across the UK and similarly to Monki targets a younger consumer.

H&M has not yet confirmed when the stores will close or announce which ones will be intergraded.

Monki currently remains open at its seven sites across the UK and clothes can also be bought online via the brand’s website.

The full list of Monki stores in the UK

London – 37 Carnaby St, Soho, W1F 7DT
Bristol – Cabot Circus, Concorde St, BS1 3BX
Birmingham – High Street, 41-43 High Street, B4 7SL
Sheffield – 108 Pinstone Street, S1 2HQ
Manchester – Arndale Centre Unit L31 & L32, Arndale Shopping Centre, M4 3AQ
Newcastle – St Andrews Way, Eldon Square, NE1 7XD
Glasgow – Buchanan Galleries, Buchanan St, G1 2FF

It comes as high street retailers have suffered their worst sales performance since the pandemic as pre-Christmas discounts failed to encourage spending, a report found earlier this week.

Sales fell 5.8 per cent in November compared to last year amid continuing cost-of-living pressures and ‘wider economic anxiety’, according to accountancy firm BDO.

The total included online sales falling 7.8 per cent while in-store sales dropped 5.5 per cent – resulting in the worst total since the middle of lockdown in January 2021.

Retail experts lamented the ‘disastrous’ figures for the UK’s industry despite heavy discounts throughout November and ‘hype’ around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The fashion sector performed particularly poorly in the High Street Sales Tracker with sales down 8 per cent year-on-year as consumers cut back on clothes spending.

This year’s overall sales fall also followed a 0.3 per cent decline in November 2023.