The British department store chain Marks & Spencer will accelerate the pace of closing stores as part of a large-scale business reorganization. By the end of 2020, the retailer plans to close 100 department stores. Initially, the company’s plans included a mass reduction at the end of 2022.
In the second quarter of 2019, Marks and Spencer had already closed 14 stores, and the total number of department stores affected by the reduction in the distribution network reached 63 over the past two years. Information about the new closures appeared after the chairman of the board of directors Archie Norman and the executive director Steve Row reported on the forecast for a decrease in the company’s profits. The M & S financial report will be submitted on May 22, 2019.
Earlier it was reported that over the past 13 weeks of 2018, the retailer’s revenue decreased by 2.7% to 2.7 billion pounds. The company is considering the possibility of reducing the number of jobs in the divisions for managing sales of clothing and household goods, which currently employ more than 1,000 employees. Under the reduction may fall 47 people in the field of procurement, merchandising and marketing.
