A staple of the shoe business in the UK has found itself in
a tough spot. One of the oldest stores in the country, Clarks might be closing some of its shops permanently.
Founded in 1825 by Cyrus and James Clark, the brand has
stores in various locations across the UK. However, it has not been revealed
which outlets will be affected. The retailer has been badly hit by the
coronavirus, and as part of a rescue deal, this move is necessary. The
private-equity firm LionRock Capital,
appointed to help the company, came up with this idea, which is dependent on approval
by creditors of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). This gives a firm that
is in debt the opportunity to pay its creditors over a fixed period and
continue trading.
Nonetheless, the firm had been experiencing difficulties
even before the pandemic. Last year, it revealed that it is going to pull out
of high streets after it showed that its turnover had dropped and its books
were also hit by a devaluation of its properties - down £50m across the UK and
US.
Pippa Stephens, retail analyst at the data and analytics
firm GlobalData, said, “The retailer had 521 stores in the UK (including
concessions) at the end of 2019” and that Clarks
should have begun the process of eliminating shops much earlier.
Clarks will close some stores in the UK © Royalty-free image
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