JOBS LOST AS ESPRIT QUITS AUSTRALIA
FASHION retailer Esprit will quit Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year with the loss of 350 jobs after failing to turn around the lossmaking operations.
The clothing and accessories company founded in California 50 years ago says it will close 67 sites, including 16 stores, 38 Myer concession stores and 13 factory outlets.
Sixty-one of those sites are in Australia, while the remainder are in New Zealand.
Esprit Holdings executive director and chief finance officer Thomas Tang said the retailer has been loss making in Australia and NZ for some time, despite “intensive” efforts to turn the business around.
“In order to strengthen our foundation, the group intends to withdraw from these markets and this will allow us to concentrate efforts and resources to develop other markets in Asia,” he said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.
All employees will receive their full entitlements.
Local director of operations Stephen Newnham said yesterday that gift cards would be honoured until the last day of trade, with closures understood to begin around October.
“The group’s decision is unfortunate but unavoidable,” Mr Newnham said.
It is among a string of fashion brands to hit financial strife in Australia in recent years, including Oroton, Topshop, Marcs, David Lawrence, Herringbone and Rhodes & Beckett.