New Look plans to close two-thirds of its French stores
With a very chaotic retail environment in France, it is New Look’s turn to take drastic measures. The French subsidiary of the British fashion brand, covered by an employment safeguard plan known as PSE in France, is laying of 262 people and closing 21 of its 32 stores, according to FashionNetwork.com.
The first store effected by this plan is the one in Calais, which should close its doors on Saturday, while the Rouen store is expected to close on Wednesday, September 19.
The other concerned stores will be phased out by 2021, once leases have expired or been sold.
With closings planned "as of the end of the month", the trade union SUD Commerce has called the plan "brutal in form and in substance".
"We demand that management suspends the closures already scheduled to happen," added the trade union organization, of the procedure of information/consultation, which begins Monday.
Contacted by AFP, the management was not immediately reachable.
The chain, present in France since 2006, saw its sales fall by 4.8% in 2016/17 (to 67.05 million euros). A meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 17, between the management of the brand in France and staff representatives.
In the United Kingdom, the struggling brand already announced in March an important restructuring plan, involving the closure of 60 stores and the elimination of 980 jobs. It had also given up on an ambitious Chinese expansion plan that was in the works for a long time.
Written with AFP
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