The owner of the DIY chain Homebase is to close a quarter of its stores over the next three years, leaving thousands of jobs hanging in the balance.
Home Retail Group (HRG), which made the announcement as it confirmed its half-year results, said it planned to shut 25% of its 323 stores by 2018 through scheduled lease expirations and sales.
It said a review of the business had found Homebase was saddled with "inconsistent store operating standards" as well as "a large estate with low sales densities that result in a challenged financial model."
The chain, which currently employs 17,000 people, is to lose its managing director Paul Loft in the wake of the findings.
A spokesperson told Sky News: "HRG has announced a three-year plan for Homebase to revitalise the business for the future.
"Part of the plan will be to right-size the store estate through scheduled lease expiries and a series of sales to other retailers.
"Once they are identified, our colleagues will be the first to be informed about any of the affected stores, and where possible we will redeploy colleagues to other stores within the Group, or encourage retailers buying our leases to offer roles within their businesses locally".
The transformation to a greater digital offering was confirmed against a backdrop of rising sales at Homebase.
Home Retail said group underlying first-half profit rose 13%, particularly reflecting sales growth at Argos.
Profit before tax reached £30.9m in the six months to 30 August though its full-year result would depend on Argos' Christmas trading, HRG said.
Argos has itself undergone a turnaround, with Home Retail moving away from its traditional catalogue store offering towards digital click & collect.
Argos saw sales from mobile and tablet devices rise by 45%.
Homebase like-for-like sales grew by 4.1% over the six-month period while its improved website helped multi-channel sales rise 12%.
John Walden, chief executive of HRG, said "Homebase is a good business with the basis for future growth.
"In this context, Homebase will pursue a three-year plan through to the end of 2018 to improve the productivity of its store estate, strengthen its propositions and accelerate its digital capabilities by leveraging Argos' investments.
"This will position Homebase as a smaller but stronger business, ready for investment and growth."
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