Clothing giant, Esprit has announced its plan to close all 56 Asia stores outside mainland China.
The stores are said to represent less than 4 percent of the Group’s total turnover. At the same time, the Group is also negotiating rental reliefs with landlords across markets.
The fashion house’s 56 shops that will see closure by June 30 are spread across Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
The announcement came as part of the company’s restructuring initiatives to focus resources and recalibrate operations amid the pandemic.
“The whole industry has been affected by the global crisis. We first felt the impacts in Asia and now in Europe, where many of our stores have been closed. This is forcing us to look at the contribution all markets make to the group’s performance,” said Anders Kristiansen, chief executive of Esprit Group.
Local fashion designers, Christy Ng and Ung Yiu Lin expressed their struggles they are facing as malls and retail stores in the country have all closed down throughout the MCO period.
In Malaysia, the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed have been extended until May 12.