As consumer confidence downgrades, it should be no surprise that a few high-flying international retail stores are closing their doors.

Shame.

As it is, all standalone Mango and Nine West stores have or will be closing down their South African stores, and other international groups such as River Island are on their way out here, too.

This comes after a number of retailers have reviewed their strategic options amidst “trying operating conditions, greater competition from international giants such as H&M, and new online shops that are eating into their market share,” reports Fin24.

The House of Busby holds the licenses for both Nine West and Mango and CEO, Mark Sadi, explained why the company decided to close the two after “considering their financial performance”:

“We constantly review the performance of our brands, based on how relevant the products still are, and based on the partnership model with the international brands, as well as economic factors, we then decide whether we should invest or divest.”

Sardi said Mango and Nine West’s sales contributed less than 5% to The House of Busby’s turnover. “The closing down of the shops has not had a real impact on the group’s profitability.”

Sardi said it was normal practice for a small retailer such as Busby to reevaluate its brand portfolio. This empowers the group to investigate new opportunities and focus on growth.

He said this helped the group to consider a change in consumers’ preferences in reviewing its brands portfolio. It also aided the group in improving its profitability over time.

According to Sardi, there have been no job losses and all employees had been redeployed to its other shops, which includes Aldo.

Asked if more shops would be closing down, the chief executive said they constantly reviewed their performance. Brands’ performance in the different shopping centres and the shop sizes are all checked to ensure that capital is optimally utilised.

But don’t get too sad just yet, because here’s some good news: although there were seven Mango and eight Nine West stores dotted around the country, Edgars will be housing both brands.

HOWEVER: If you are a solid Nine West fan who drooled over their divine selection of shoes, only their bags will be available in Edgars. Heartbreak.

Also, River Island won’t even be available in the country, with Edgars booting it completely.

In the meantime, we will just have to make do with what we have.

H&M? Looks like they’re cleaning up.

[source:fin24]