Department store chain Debenhams is to close one of its central distribution centres, 10 smaller regional warehouses and as many as 10 stores as part of a strategy to turn the business around.
The retailer, which this morning announced a 6.7% decline in pretax profit to £87.8m, said it had begun consultation on the closures after a comprehensive review of its strategy and operations.
The new strategy, Debenhams Redesigned, aims to simplify the business while making its operations more efficient by removing barriers between online and offline shopping and simplifying its store estate.
Debenhams said that none of its 176 stores was loss-making but that as many as 10 could close over the coming five years if they do not meet the retailer’s required return threshold. Smaller stores will also be reviewed for possible conversion to outlets.
It also plans to declutter its stores by reducing stock by around 10%.
The chain’s results show a halt in investment in stores during the first half of 2017. Of the £53.5m of capital investment in H1 2016, some 24% was on new stores and 7% on modernising existing stores. In H1 2017, none of the £47.5m of capital investment was spent on the retailer’s store portfolio.
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