Management at Dunelm, the national homewares retailer, have branded the latest lockdown measures in England as "unexpected and inconsistent".
The retail park and online specialist has been forced to close all of its 145 English stores to everything but click-and-collect services.
The business said although it had been on the Government’s “essential” list of retailers during the last lockdown, this time its products were being classed as “non-essential”.
Its Scottish stores remain open, though, with its Welsh shops set to reopen on Monday.
Shares in the business remained steady today at just under £14, having plummeted to less than half that as the first lockdown kicked off.
Back in the summer the business said it was spending around £150,000 every week on social distancing measures in its stores and warehouses.
Only last month it revealed that it was handing back £14.5 million in furlough money on the back of a post-lockdown sales surge.
The Leicestershire-based business – which has been growing its out-of-town stores and online sales in recent years – said sales jumped more than a third to almost £360 million in the three months to late September.
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Online accounted for almost 30 per cent of that.
In October it said it would not be making any claims under Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Job Retention Scheme bonus of £1,000 for every previously furloughed employee still employed at the end of January next year.
Since that trading update on October 15, Dunelm said it had continued to perform “very strongly” in store and online, across all product categories, with total sales continuing to grow.
In a new lockdown trading update it said: “However, the latest legislation announced in England relating to Covid-19 restrictions does not include ‘homewares’ on the list of permitted retail businesses.
“This is both unexpected and inconsistent with the guidance provided during the previous national lockdown, when homewares was added to the essential retail list in May.
“As a result, from today until December 2, 2020, our 145 stores in England will continue to operate click and collect services but will otherwise be closed to customers.
“Our nine stores in Wales, which have been closed during the ‘firebreak’ lockdown period, are expected to reopen on November 9, while our stores in Scotland and Northern Ireland currently remain open.
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“Online home delivery will continue to operate across the country, with recent investments providing us with increased capability and capacity to support an expected increase in demand during the lockdown period.
“Whilst the new restrictions have increased the level of uncertainty in the outlook for the financial year, we remain confident in our proposition and the adaptability of our total retail system.
“We look forward to welcoming customers back into our stores when the restrictions are lifted.”
The statement said the group continued to have a “very strong” balance sheet with a net cash position of £156 million and access to £175 million of bank financing facilities.