Uncertain future for Barking phone shop

One of the borough’s prominent phone shops could be set to close, as a major retailer announced plans to roll out electrical superstores merging its three main brands.

Dixons Carphone – the owners of Carphone Warehouse, which have a store in Station Parade, Barking – are overhauling all of its stores, including PC World and Currys, to launch new three-in-one stores.

The group will close 134 stores nationally as part of the revamp, but Dixons Carphone said it will relocate all staff impacted to nearby superstores.

Although the locations of affected stores are not yet known, details of the changes came as the group hailed a “strong” performance over Christmas.

Seb James, group chief executive, said: “We have been doing this – on a smaller scale – for some years and are very confident that the impact on sales and colleague numbers will be neutral or better.

“In addition, our experience shows that colleagues prefer working in – and customers prefer shopping in – our new three-in-one format stores.”