One of the seven River Island stores in Liverpool city region will close as the troubled fashion retailer secures High Court approval for its restructuring plan amid plummeting sales. Tony McDonough reports
Troubled fashion retailer River Island is to close 33 stores, including one in Liverpool city region, after it secured approval for its restructuring plan.
In the last few days River Island, which has grappled with multi-million pound losses, got the go-ahead from the High Court that will see outlets closed and rents reduced at a further 71 branches.
Among those closing will be the company’s store at the Grange Arcade in St Helens. Branches in Liverpool city centre, Edge Lane, New Mersey Shopping Park, Birkenhead, Southport and Widnes will all remain open, as will another store in Cheshire Oaks.
In a familiar tale River Island blamed pressure from online shopping and rising overheads for its woes. Its most recent accounts revealed a 19% fall in sales and pre-tax losses of £33.2m.
Creditors had been warned that the company was at risk of running out of cash by the end of August or the beginning of September. The company is seeking extra funds of £54m to avoid becoming another high profile retail casualty.
In the last few years some of the biggest names in British retail have fallen victim to the rise of ecommerce including Debenhams, Arcadia Group (which included Topshop, Topman, Burton, and Dorothy Perkins), and BHS (British Home Stores).
About 110 of the 950 roles at River Island’s head office will also be cut to save more than £8m. It had already closed seven stores this year and currently operates from 223 outlets in the UK and Ireland.
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Chief executive Ben Lewis, said approval for the turnaround plan “will enable us to align our store estate to our customers’ needs”. He added the company has a “clear transformation strategy” to ensure the business has a future.
Founded in 1948 under the Lewis and Chelsea Girl brand, the chain became River Island in 1988 and initially saw strong growth. It currently employs more than 5,000 people. The stores closing are:
- Aylesbury
- Bangor Bloomfield
- Barnstaple
- Beckton
- Brighton
- Burton-Upon-Trent
- Cumbernauld
- Didcot
- Edinburgh Princes Street
- Falkirk
- Gloucester
- Great Yarmouth
- Grimsby
- Hanley
- Hartlepool
- Hereford
- Kilmarnock
- Kirkcaldy
- Leeds Birstall Park
- Lisburn
- Northwich
- Norwich
- Oxford
- Perth
- Poole
- Rochdale
- St Helens
- Stockton On Tees
- Surrey Quays
- Sutton Coldfield
- Taunton
- Workington
- Wrexham