N Brown to close retail outlets

Home Catalogue Specialist N Brown has announced that it will be closing up to five Simply Be and Jacamo dual-fascia stores. This decision takes into account weak high-street footfall, both current and predicted, together with significant future business rate increases for some stores. Together, these five stores contributed £5million revenue but accounted for the entire £2million operating loss in store estate. The process will be completed by the end of August

Angela Spindler, CEO, commented: “We are pleased to report a good Q1 performance, with continued momentum across all of our brands and categories. Ladieswear and Simply Be in particular had a very strong period, with good responses to our Spring/Summer campaigns, leading to further market share gains. “As a result of ongoing weak footfall in some locations, and with a clear focus on driving financial returns across all areas of our business, we will be closing up to five loss-making stores.”

“Although the outlook for consumer confidence remains uncertain, our offering is resonating with customers. At this early stage in the financial year, trading is on track to meet our expectations. We continue to invest in our customer proposition and remain very confident in our future growth prospects.”