Further House of Fraser stores to close in 2020

It can take years to turn around an ailing department store group, as parent company Sports Direct has discovered since acquiring House of Fraser.

Since its purchase one year ago, some stores are yet to pay rent and remain unsustainable. “We are doing as much as we can to realistically save as many jobs and stores as possible,” said Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley.

Store closures

“We are continuing to review the longer-term portfolio and would expect the number of retained stores to continue to reduce in the next 12 months,” Ashley stated.

When House of Fraser went into administration, it had 59 stores, two warehouses and employed almost 16,000 staff. According to the BBC it has been reported that seven of those stores have been closed.

Steve Miley, a senior market analyst at asktraders.com told FashionUnited: “Sports Direct has reported a 22 percent rise in first half core earnings amid signs of recovery at House of Fraser. Full year underlying earnings are expected to grow 5 - 15 percent. This is the first time that investors have had clarity over the direction of the House of Fraser as the company was unable to provide forecasts for the current year at its full year results in July.”

On Monday Sports Direct shareholders voted to change the retailer’s corporate name to Frasers Group, as part of plans to move upmarket and away from sports.

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