This is why Poundland is closing in Worthing - and what do shoppers want to replace it?
Worthing’s Poundland store wasn’t on the retail chain’s list of stores identified for closure – but will be serving customers for the final time in December.
This is because the company has been unable to secure terms to continue trading.
The discount retailer on Montague Street will close on Saturday, December 6 – with a closing down sale underway.
The retail chain has been restructuring its operations since the summer previously said it expects to operate a store network of 650-700 stores – compared to the c800 it had at the beginning of the restructuring process.
Poundland’s UK retail manager Darren MacDonald said: “We know how disappointing it is when we leave a store, but before we close our doors for a final time, we’re determined to say goodbye by offering even more amazing value to customers.
"These special reductions, on top of the value we offer day-in-day-out across our wider network, will help us leave locations like Worthing with pride. And when our doors close, we’ll look forward to welcoming customers to one of the hundreds of Poundland stores we’ll continue to operate right across the UK.”
The news will no doubt cause concern locally but shoppers have been reassured that the site will not be vacant for long.
The Worthing Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) confirmed that ‘another major retailer’ is ‘finalising a deal to move straight in’.
Worthing Herald readers have been having their say about what they would like to see replace Poundland, when it leaves the town.
Sam Lawler wrote: "I think Sainsbury's should join up with Argos and put it where Poundland is now."
Claire Rice said: “We could do with a Primark!”
Angela Chadwick revealed that she is ‘dreaming of a John Lewis’.
Simon Holman wrote: “That site is perfect for an indoor market. When it was BHS, there was a café upstairs which could be reinstated and would draw shoppers in.”
Sammy Mason called for a Home Bargains, whilst Vicky Lyons posed the question if TK Maxx could be the ideal replacement – after its current branch in The Montague Centre was listed on the market.
Daniel Serne thought the site was better suited for a restaurant though, commenting: “Wagamamas please.”
Poundland – which shut its Horsham shop in September – will also close its branch in Western Road, Brighton, on December 31 and its Ravenside Retail Park (Bexhill) store on January 5, 2026.
In September Poundland brought its main 68-store closure programme to a conclusion – closing 57 stores by 28 September, and placing a further 11 closures on hold. Among those on hold was Brighton’s London Road store.
The retailer told Sussex World that the London Road store closure is still on hold and ‘there are currently no plans to close that store’.