Monsoon Accessorize to permanently close 35 shops – full list of stores revealed
MONSOON Accessorize is permanently closing 35 stores with the loss of 545 jobs.
The retailer entered administration this week after the coronavirus crisis shattered its turnaround plan.
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It comes a week after Monsoon Accessorize warned that it faced permanently closing stores within a week if landlords didn't waive rent.
The retailer said 545 staff will be made redundant, despite its founder Peter Simon buying it out of the pre-pack administration almost immediately.
As part of the deal, an additional 450 jobs will be transferred to Adena Brands, which is owned by Mr Simon.
The business has promised to inject £15million into the retailer to allow the remaining stores to stay open.
Mr Simon will also try to renegotiate with landlords to get a better deal on the remaining 162 store leases, administrator FRP said.
Which Monsoon Accessorize stores are closing?
BELOW are the 35 shops set to permanently close.
- Basildon
- Bexleyheath
- Burton-on-Trent
- Camberley
- Canterbury
- Carlisle
- Chelmsford
- Cork, Patrick Street A, Republic of Ireland
- Cork, Patrick Street B, Republic of Ireland
- Crawley
- Derby
- Dublin, Republic of Ireland
- Hereford
- Hitchin
- Huddersfield
- Kilkenny
- Lancaster
- Lincoln
- Liverpool Airport
- Maidenhead
- Maidstone
- Middlesbrough
- Newark
- Newtownabbey
- Northampton
- Southend
- St Albans
- Staines
- Sutton Coldfield
- Taunton
- Telford
- Trowbridge
- Truro
- Tunbridge Wells
- York, Davygate
Adena Brands said it hopes to be able to save as many as 100 stores and 2,300 jobs.
The 35 stores set to close are located across the UK, including three in the Republic of Ireland. You can check out the full list above.
The retailer said nothing will change for customers as a result of it briefly going into administration, except for the store closures.
Gift cards will still be accepted, outstanding orders will be honoured and shoppers can also still make orders online.
Peter Simon said: "Ever since I opened the first Monsoon store in Beauchamp Place in 1973, this business has been my passion and my life, and I did not want to see it fall victim to this unprecedented crisis.
"Both Monsoon and Accessorize were trading well before the coronavirus pandemic but the business simply could not withstand the financial impact of having to close all its UK, franchise and joint venture stores for almost three months.
“This deal secures the future of both Monsoon and Accessorize and means we can continue to serve our customers online without a pause."
Tony Wright, joint administrator and partner at FRP, added: "We had to move quickly and decisively to secure the future of Monsoon and Accessorize, as many jobs as possible and the presence of these two iconic brands on the UK high street.
"After assessing a range of options this deal achieves those goals with least disruption to the business in an already challenging retail environment.
"We are now committed to working with Adena Brands as they enter talks with landlords to agree future terms across their store portfolio and look to transfer more jobs to the buyer.
"We'll also be working with the Redundancy Payments Service to support all affected employees through this difficult time."
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The retailer, which specialises in fashion and jewellery, employs around 3,500 people.
It went through a restructuring less than a year ago which saw Mr Simon inject £12million from his own pocket into the business.
At the time, it successfully fought off falling into administration, and managed to cut rents for 135 shops although 40 had to be permanently closed.
The firm had insisted the turnaround plan was going well but while the business was trying to heal, all of its stores were forced to close in March when the government ordered all non-essential shops to do so.
Many high street retailers has suffering due to the government's pandemic measures.
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