Supermarket rebels HISBE closes its Worthing store 'until further notice'

A sign on the window of the store, in Portland Road, reads: "TEMPORARY CLOSURE. HISBE will be closed until further notice. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. We will hopefully open our doors soon. The HISBE team."

The closure followed a New Year's Eve message on the HISBE Food Facebook page, which read: "Happy New Year! Here's to 2024, and continuing being supermarket rebels another year! We have still have a selection of great local spirits and fizz, as well as organic options. If we don't see you in store today, see you next year! Cheers from the team at HISBE "

Customers have wished the team well and in a reply to a message on its Facebook page asking 'when is the Worthing store reopening?', assistant store manager Luke Metcalfe said yesterday: "Hoping for next week, weekend hopefully."

The team has been approached for a comment.

A separate notice on the doors refers to an application made by Worthing store manager Aaron McMillan in September for a pavement licence for 'outside the front of the shop, for customers to sit or drink and eat food if they wish to do so'.

HISBE, which stands for How It Should Be, opened in Portland Road in January 2021. The Brighton store had already been in operation for seven years, with the ethos of selling food packaging free.

The company is proud to be a rebel food retailer that provides green alternatives and stands for better food and farming. The supermarket has been lowering carbon emissions through reducing waste, sourcing local food and offering hundreds of products without packaging.