Galeries Lafayette to shutter branch in Lille

Premium French department store group Galeries Lafayette is set to shutter its branch in Lille, France. The announcement, which was made Friday evening, was said to be the final blow from the group, especially for the stores current 134 employees.

Last March saw the group reveal the closure of loss-making stores in Béziers in the South of France and in Thiais, near Paris, a move which affected less than 300 employees. At the time the department store said that it would attempt to renegotiate rent for its Lille location, or face having to close down the unprofitable store as well. Current employees will be offered new positions within other stores in the area, according to Les Echos.

Galeries Lafayette is also set to cut down the number of positions at its head office through a voluntary redundancy program as it struggles to reduce fixed costs at its headquarters.