From Gap to Guess, big names in the fashion industry are closing stores around the world or shrinking their business plans.
Several months before the current crisis caused by COVID-19 broke out worldwide, and a considerable group of clothes shops extremely popular and ready to decrease their operations and even to close completely.
The closure of cities and the stoppage of economic activity, generated by the coronavirus outbreak, have only worsened the situation of these stores, which were visited by thousands and even millions of buyers at the time. A crisis that is felt a lot in the United States and that it is also up to companies to travel in Argentina.
The other factor of weight has been the boom of the electronic commerce and online shopping, according to a Business Insider report detailing the most notable examples of these partial or total closings, which were reported by Yahoo Finance.
One of the emblematic cases is that of JCPenney. The well-known brand was declared in bankruptcy in May, after failing to make the outstanding payments and after an increase in its debt.
According to CNN Business, JCPenney has defaulted on his payments and is in debt of nearly $ 4 billion.
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Between this fiscal year and next, JCPenney plans to close a total of 242 stores. It should be noted that so far this year, the brand has already closed six stores in Montana, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
In May, Victoria’s Secret announced that it plans to close until 250 stores in the United States and Canada. However, its decline had already manifested itself long before the pandemic.
According to Forbes, net sales of Victoria’s Secret fell 46% in the first fiscal quarter of 2020.
Earlier this year, as part of a plan to close 230 stores over the course of two years, Gap closed 40 establishments across the planet. Twenty-nine of these closings occurred in the United States.
“We are committed to intervening quickly, thoughtfully and decisively in stores that underperform or do not meet our vision for the future,” read a statement posted on the company’s website.
Macy´s chain would close 125 of its stores
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Last March, model filed for bankruptcy and announced that it would close its 153 stores.
According to the New York Post, “The chain, which sold mid-priced sportswear brands, faced increasing competition from Dick’s Sporting Goods, the only remaining national sportswear chain.
In parallel, it was known that in the next three years, the chain Macy’s should close 125 stores.
“We are leading the organization to significant structural change to reduce costs, bring teams closer together, and reduce duplicate work,” Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement.
Another brand that plans space and personnel reductions is Guess. It has been known that his project is to close 100 establishments worldwide in the next 18 months.
Victoria’s Secret announced that it plans to close up to 250 stores in the United States and Canada.
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“The recent performance of stocks and expected demand under our new normal model made it very clear that our store portfolios around the world could be optimized to increase profitability,” chief executive Carlos Alberini told Bloomberg analysts. .
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For its part, G-III Apparel Group, also owner of brands such as DKNY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, announced in June that plans to close all of its Wilsons Leather and GH Bass stores.
“Focusing on enhancing shareholder value, we have made the difficult decision to close all Wilsons Leather and GH Bass stores and have reached agreements for the early termination of the lease of a significant majority of these stores,” he said in a statement. Announced its President and CEO, Morris Goldfarb.
In parallel, after declaring bankruptcy, Lucky Brand It has just announced that it would close at least 13 of its stores.
With around 200 spaces in the United States, the closure will take place in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and Puerto Rico.
“While we are optimistic about the reopening of the stores and the return of our customers, the business has not yet fully recovered,” said Matthew Kaness, its interim CEO, in a statement.
Zara changes strategy
Other global brands are not having a good time either: the Spanish company Inditex, owner of the brand Zararecently announced that It would close up to 1,200 stores worldwide.
Zara will close more than 1,000 stores worldwide and will focus on online sales
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These closings will take place gradually over the next two years, as the company plans to change its focus to Online sales.
The company founded by the millionaire Amancio Ortega has not announced which specific establishments will lower the iron curtain, but it did assure in a statement that they will be those that are “at the end of their useful life”.
Pablo Isla, its CEO, wrote in a report that “the primary objective between now and 2022 is to accelerate the full implementation of our integrated store concept, driven by the notion of being able to offer our customers uninterrupted service no matter where they are located , on any device and at any time of the day. “
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