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A major retailer with 100 stores across the country has announced it will be shutting a branch, in a blow to the high street. The Edinburgh Woollen Mill is closing its doors in Dereham, Norfolk.

The store now has large signs in the windows alerting customers that it is "closing down" and that "all stock must go". The signs also reveal why the Dereham branch is closing, with smaller writing reading: "Subject to landlord negotiations."

The branch opened in 2005 as one of the first stores in the town's shopping centre. The nearest branches are in Thetford, King's Lynn, and Great Yarmouth. It follows other brands closing stores in Dereham, including Wilko, CarpetRight, HomeBase, and WHSmith.

This closure follows The Edinburgh Woollen Mill's opening of new stores in Stratford-upon-Avon, Wrexham, Chirk, Perth, Wimbourne, Skipton, Woodbridge, and Ayr in 2025.

The Edinburgh Woollen Mill is a British clothing retailer founded in 1946, based in Carlisle. The brand claims to be a "cashmere and knitwear specialist" offering men's and women's clothing.

The retailer bought 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 bought by an international consortium of investors, alongside Bonmarche and Ponden Homes.

In 2021, Peacocks was brought out of administration by a senior executive backed by an international consortium of investors, removing it from The Edinburgh Woollen Mill to a sister company.

As of 2026, The Edinburgh Woollen Mill operates approximately 100 retail stores across the UK and Ireland, focusing on high street locations, tourist spots, and garden centre concessions.