Upmarket menswear retailer Austin Reed Group has announced plans to close its Donegal Shirt Company factory in Ireland because of “exceptionally difficult” trading conditions.
The company added that trading on the high street had been tough since October and that the January sales period was proving to be “exceptionally difficult”. As a consequence Austin Reed expected to see a 12% drop in like-for-like sales – stripping out income from new floor space – on the half year to January 31 1999.
Pretax profits for the year to January 31 are expected to be between £6m and £6.5m, before exceptional gains.
Brighter news on the high street came from two department stores. Discount store TJ Hughes reported an 11.8% increase in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to January 2, while Joplings’ five stores in the Midlands and the North saw a 2.7% lift for the same period.
EGi News 11/01/99
Do you have a comment about this story? Send a note to the editor.
