Sports Direct could close 2/3 of House of Fraser stores

Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley could close as many as two-thirds of the 59 original House of Fraser stores, The Financial Times reports, citing an anonymous person in regular contact with the retail tycoon.

“All he needs is 15-20 refurbished stores trading in the Frasers format. Around 20 will almost certainly shut and I’d say another 20 are up in the air,” the source said. That number of stores would be as many as the previous management of the struggling retailer planned to close.

Ashley said he would save as many stores as possible when he bought the department store chain out of administration last year, and was vocal in his criticism of its previous management.

On the release of Sports Direct’s full-year results last week, Ashley said that House of Fraser was doing worse than he had expected, making a loss of 54 million pounds in the year to April. He also acknowledged that more stores would need to be shut.

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