Euro Shoe Group, the group behind the Bristol chain with some 250 stores in Belgium and the Netherlands, will close more outlets. That is stated in a press release on Friday, in the margin of the annual results for 2019.
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Last year, Euro Shoe Group already started a restructuring, whereby the most loss-making stores were closed. In 2019, this involved ten closures in Belgium, eight in the Netherlands and one in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
“More closures are likely to follow in the next three years. A further 17 are planned for 2020, of which 11 have already been completed. The correct number for the coming years has not yet been determined because of the large and rapid changes that the market can undergo ”, the press release said. The company does not disclose how many employees are affected. In De Standaard it states that Euro Shoe Group applies for the status of a company in difficulty in order to make staff redundant more easily, for example via SWT (former early retirement, ed.).
Pop-ups
But in addition to closures, new stores are also being opened. This year this was already the case in Weert in the Netherlands and in Bertrix (in the province of Luxembourg), and a new branch will be opened in Diksmuide next month.
In addition, the group aims at so-called “pop-ups”: smaller branches in the city center with a younger collection. About five openings are planned for this year, under the name “Coco Bella by Bristol”. The existing Bristol stores are also being adapted, “to bring an extra experience and to present the collections better”. A lot of relocations would also take place in the Netherlands to become more visible.
Euro Shoe Group suffered a net loss of 6.2 million euros last year. Turnover fell from 197.5 million to 183.7 million. But the company still sees “several indicators that the efforts are starting to bear fruit,” the press release reads. For example, the operating loss decreased from -2.6 million to -1.7 million and the gross profit margin rose slightly.
The group had the ambition to achieve a positive operational result this year, but due to the corona crisis and the mandatory closure of stores, this has not been achieved, CEO Elise Vanaudenhove admits. “We will have to adjust our expectations”. She is now aiming for a positive result for 2021. Most of Bristol’s stores, the former Shoe Discount, are on the periphery and that is an advantage in the current corona times, according to the CEO.
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