Clothing giant with over 100 UK stores to close branch in blow to high street | UK | News
A major retailer with 100 stores across the country has announced it will close a branch, in a blow to the high street. Edinburgh Woolen Mill is closing its doors in Dereham, Norfolk.
The store now has large signs in its windows warning customers that it is “closing” and “all stock must go”. The signs also reveal why the Dereham branch is closing, and in smaller print it says: “Subject to landlord negotiations.”
The branch opened in 2005 as one of the first stores in the city’s shopping mall. The nearest branches are in Thetford, King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth. It follows other brands in closing stores in Dereham, including Wilko, CarpetRight, HomeBase and WHSmith.
The closure comes after Edinburgh Woolen Mill opened new stores in Stratford-upon-Avon, Wrexham, Chirk, Perth, Wimbourne, Skipton, Woodbridge and Ayr in 2025.
Edinburgh Woolen Mill is a British clothing retailer founded in Carlisle in 1946. The brand claims to be a “cashmere and knitwear specialist” for men’s and women’s clothing.
The retailer acquired Ponden Homes in 2008, Jane Norman in 2011, Peacocks in 2012, Austin Reed in 2016 and Bonmarche in 2019.
The company went into administration in 2020 and was acquired by an international consortium of investors alongside Bonmarche and Ponden Homes.
In 2021, Peacocks was removed from administration by a senior executive backed by an international consortium of investors, moving it from The Edinburgh Woolen Mill to a sister company.
As of 2026, The Edinburgh Woolen Mill operates approximately 100 retail stores in the UK and Ireland, focusing on high street locations, tourist attractions and garden center concessions.
