Ads
Published
Oct 5, 2017
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Hawes & Curtis to close loss-making Oxford Street store

Published
Oct 5, 2017

The owner of quintessentially British menswear brand Hawes & Curtis has revealed plans to close several loss-making stores including branches on Oxford Street and High Street Kensington before the end of the year.


Photo: Hawes & Curtis


The retailer has been battered by tough trading conditions, the rise in rents and business rates and lower footfall at sites close to major construction works, the Evening Standard reports.

Hawes & Curtis stores in Victoria, Kingston and Glasgow are also expected to close this year.

The 28-stores retailer widened its losses to £2.6 million in 2016 from £634k in the previous year. The result was driven by the difficult trading conditions in the UK retail sector and in the brand’s wholesale markets.

Owner Touker Suleyman said that Hawes & Curtis buys materials in dollars, but sells in pounds, adding currency swings to the list of challenges it is facing.

“It’s been a perfect storm for retail... but this year we have cut a lot of overheads and the business is back on track,” he told the Standard.

The company is trying to boost its online business in overseas markets and in the UK by encouraging repeat customer orders.

But bricks-and-mortar remains important, with the brand planning to open a new branch close to Tottenham Court Road station later this week to capitalise on the expected surge in footfall due to the arrival of Crossrail in 2018.

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.