Company announced UK stores will close in January as part of a major restructuring plan, with the full list of affected locations
High Street fashion retailer River Island has announced plans to close 32 of its stores across the country next month, with closure dates for 15 stores now confirmed. The struggling company has also revealed a rescue plan involving reduced rent payments on 71 outlets in an effort to avoid administration.
The significant restructuring will see 32 out of over 200 branches shut their doors in the first month of the coming year, while 71 locations will see rent reductions and a large portion of debt will be wiped out. However, River Island customers can still visit 122 stores that will remain unaffected by these changes.
In a bid to minimise losses, the firm has requested landlords to decrease rents for a three-year period and possibly suspend payments on certain properties. This proposal was approved by a High Court Judge in August this year.
River Island’s chief executive, Ben Lewis, stated earlier this year: “We have a clear transformation strategy to ensure the long-term viability of the business, and this decision gives us a strong platform to deliver this.”
He further added: “Recent improvements in our fashion offer and shopping experience are starting to show results, and the restructuring plan will enable us to align our store estate to our customers’ needs. We are grateful to our suppliers, landlords and other stakeholders for their constructive engagement and shared confidence in River Island’s future.”
Matthew Weaver KC, representing River Island, told the hearing that the retailer “simply has not been able to reverse” its financial troubles. In his written submissions, he blamed the decline in footfall and sales on “the pressures of a highly competitive and changing retail environment as well as the prevailing trend away from high street retail stores to online shopping”.
He continued: “A number of geopolitical events have also resulted in continuing supply chain disruption which, together with energy, labour and other price increases, has resulted in a cost base that’s too high and unsustainable at its current level.”
River Island, which operates 223 stores across the UK and Ireland, will not be shutting any of its Irish locations, Mr Weaver confirmed. The company, which has around 5,500 employees, was founded in 1948 as Lewis and Chelsea Girl before being rebranded in the 1980s.
Several of the shops are expected to run a clearance sale before closing their doors. However, no specific date for when the sales will start has been announced yet.
Full list of River Island shops closing in January with 15 exact dates
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire – January 18
- Bangor Bloomfield, Northern Ireland
- Barnstaple, Devon – January 31
- Beckton, Greater London
- Brighton, East Sussex – January 18
- Burton-Upon-Trent, Derbyshire – January 18
- Cumbernauld, Scotland
- Didcot, Oxfordshire – January 31
- Edinburgh Princes Street, Scotland
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire – January 31
- Great Yarmouth
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire – January 31
- Hanley, Staffordshire
- Hartlepool, County Durham – January 24
- Hereford, Herefordshire – January 31
- Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Kirkcaldy, Scotland
- Leeds Birstall Park, West Yorkshire
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland
- Northwich, Cheshire – January 24
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Perth, Scotland
- Poole, Dorset – January 31
- Rochdale, Greater Manchester
- St Helens, Merseyside – January 24
- Surrey Quays, Greater London – January 18
- Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire – January 18
- Taunton, Somerset
- Workington, Cumbria
- Wrexham, Wales – January 18
