Watford Waterstone’s to close

Waterstones in Watford will close its doors for good on Christmas Eve.

The news follows the earlier announcement that two central London branches on Fleet Street and High Holborn will also shut on 24th December after the last day of Christmas trading.

A Waterstones spokesman said 12 staff would be affected by the Watford closure, while 10 would be impacted in the London branches. Following the announcement of the closures of the Fleet Street and High Holburn stores, a Waterstones spokesman said they would “attempt to redeploy staff to other shops”.

Since m.d. James Daunt took control of Waterstones, the estate has decreased from 297 to 288 shops; however, he told The Bookseller last month that there could be opportunities to expand if the company experiences a successful festive season.

He said: “We will continue to adjust the portfolio. There is still some duplication in some areas and some shops are too big, but we’ll also look to open new stores. It we have a good Christmas, this should create the resources to do that.”