Claire’s weighing up store closures amid retail woes
Fashion accessory retailer Claire’s has tonight strongly denied reports that it is mulling store closures as part of a turnaround bid to revive the firm.
The high street retailer’s boss said this evening that there were no plans to trigger an insolvency process – known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) – despite earlier reports that the firm was considering a number of restructuring options.
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Claire’s boss Ron Marshall said: “We have no plans for either a CVA or major store closures in the UK in the foreseeable future…Any stores we do close or open in the UK would be as part of our normal course of business.”
Retailers have used the CVA process, which often invokes uproar from landlords, as a means of avoiding bankruptcy by closing stores and renegotiating rents.
The news comes after weekend reports that Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) was also rumoured to be edging closer to a CVA, after hiring Deloitte to advise on restructuring last month.