No baby boom for Mothercare as the chain calls in administrators
FOR more than half a century it has been the first stop for many new parents seeking all the things their baby could ever need.
From prams to bibs and bodysuits, Mothercare was an ever-present source of support for mothers and fathers finding their way through their little one’s early years.
But the retail chain has now announced its days on the high street may be numbered and yesterday said it plans to enter into administration, putting about 2500 jobs at risk.
Plummeting profits and a dwindling customer base have been blamed for the store’s continuing problems, while experts said it had failed to properly adapt to the new online shopping environment or the threat of competitors eating away at parts of its core business.
With two Glasgow stores, one at St Enoch Centre and the other on Crow Road in Anniesland, Mothercare is the latest store to go into administration. It comes just weeks after family-owned Watt Brothers announced it was closing down including it’s flagship store in Sauchiehall Street.
The slide into administration is a long way from Mothercare’s heyday in the 1980s and 90s, when the firm was an ever-present on high streets and grew to 350 outlets.
Launched by entrepreneurs Selim Zilkha and Sir James Goldsmith in 1961 following the takeover of nursery furniture-maker W J Harris, Mothercare was part of a revolution on the high street.
Taking the department store ethos of providing many products under one roof and applying it to the specialised area of childcare, the chain initially focused on pushchairs, nursery furniture and maternity clothing before expanding to include children’s clothing for children.
Over the years its stock expanded to cover virtually everything related to childcare, including maternity clothing, feeding and bathing items, travel supplies, toys and safety equipment.
It also offered services such as prenatal scans, and was among the first businesses to construct purpose-built breastfeeding rooms to offer mothers privacy.
Mothercare had already closed 55 stores over the past year in a desperate attempt to keep the business afloat.
Announcing the decision yesterday, Mothercare said its 79 UK stores, which will continue to trade as normal during administration, were “not capable of returning to a level of structural profitability”.
The firm said the decision to appoint administrators was “a necessary step in the restructuring and refinancing” of the group.
“Plans are well advanced and being finalised for execution imminently. A further announcement will be made in due course,” it said.