Fashion chain Banana Republic confirmed it will soon pull out of the British market. Currently, the chain has 8 stores in the region, but these will all close.
75 stores worldwide will close
More than a year of disappointing results have led to Banana Republic’s decision to leave the United Kingdom. Back in May, the company presented a new strategy to improve the company’s overall performance and this included the closure of every British store. Most of those will have shut down by the end of its current fiscal year.
Banana Republic’s parent company, Gap, aims to shut down stores in other countries as well, 75 in total, while several New York-based stores will be transformed into outlets. Gap is not performing well as a whole, but Banana Republic is doing even worse, which is why the company is forced to take drastic measures.
Last August, Banana Republic revealed its second quarter like-for-like turnover dropped 9 %, the sixth straight quarter with lower like-for-like turnover.