Australian clothing brand Sass & Bide to shut 10 standalone stores nationwide
Australian fashion label Sass & Bide is set to shut 10 stores across the country, with multiple jobs to be cut.
From October 6, the designer brand will continue to operate at Harbour Town and James St in Queensland, South Warf in Victoria and Claremont in Western Australia.
Stores will close at Bondi, Miranda, Chadstone and Paddington in NSW; Doncaster and Emporium in Victoria; Rundle St in South Australia; Karrinyup in WA; Canberra; and Newmarket in New Zealand.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Sass & Bide CEO Paula Mackenzie acknowledged staff would be affected at the locations.
“We will be offering all available support to them and will offer redeployment, where possible for our store team members,” she said.
“These decisions were not taken lightly but they are necessary to ensure the business is repositioned for growth and is sustainable into the future.”
There will also be a reduction in support office roles, although it was unclear how many.
Mackenzie said the move represented a retail shift in focus to concessions and online as the business continues to grow sustainably.
“We have been reviewing the store footprint for S&B to ensure it is aligned with our popular in-store concessions and growing online business, meeting the needs of our loyal customers and operating sustainably,” she said.
“In conjunction with the intention to expand the S&B concession network, we will also be expanding the presence of Marcs and David Lawrence in Myer stores.
“These brands are highly popular and in-demand with customers, and look forward to saying more on this soon.
The cult fashion label, now wholly owned by Myer, was established in 1999 by best friends Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton.
Myer bought a $42.3 million controlling stake in the business in 2011, before paying another $30 million for the remainder of the high-fashion brand in 2013.
The closures come after Myer reported a preliminary sales drop of 2.9 per cent last financial year in its latest trading update.
The decline was driven by “underperformance” of speciality brands Sass & Bide, Marcs and David Lawrence, which the company blamed on a weak trading environment and additional discounting.
