(Image courtesy of theaustralian.com.au)
The latest Australian merchant to fall into voluntary administration, Jeanswest, will close 37 shops as a campaign to sell the business commences.
The total of 37 stores represents one-quarter of the group’s 146 total stores, with 263 employees to be made redundant as part of the merchant’s restructure.
21 of the 263 redundant staff come from the retailer’s head office, with the remainder of those that staff the 37 stores due for closure. However, the administrators haven’t ruled out the potential redeployment of the redundant staff members in different areas of the enterprise.
KMPG voluntary administrator James Stewart claims the decision to shut the 37 stores was not an easy one to make.
A similar fate is faced by the department store chain Harris Scarfe, despite its strong customer satisfaction track record and annual sales of $380 million, fell into receivership last December.
The company announced in early January that it would shut 21 stores this month, meaning around 88-full time, 128-part time, and 224 casual places could be impacted.