Carpetright is set to enter administration, putting the future of its more than 1,800 staff at risk.
The carpet and flooring retailer has filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators.
The chain has a store in Winchester and three stores in the Southampton area - in Nursling, Hedge End and Fareham.
The Winchester store is at Winchester Trade Park, off Easton Lane, Winnall, near to junction 9 of the M3.
It is understood that experts from PwC are set to be appointed as part of the process, who will seek to find emergency funding or a rescue buyer for the troubled business.
Once a notice of intent to appoint administrators is filed, it gives companies around 10 days in which it can attempt to avoid insolvency.
The company operates 272 stores across the UK which are continuing to trade as normal.
Carpetright, which is owned by Nestware Holdings, has suffered from weaker demand for carpets as homeowners shifted towards hard flooring as well as a major cyberattack in April which halted trading.
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