J.Crew plans to close 30 more stores

It may not be very merry holidays for employees J.Crew Group stores — more like worrisome.

The embattled fashion retailer said that it planned to close about 50 stores by the end of January, more than double the roughly 20 shutdowns the company announced in June.

The announcement darkened the holiday sales season for the New York-based company, which is among the many US retailers shutting traditional stores as consumers increasingly shift their purchasing to online transactions.

Sears, Macy’s, J.C. Penney and other companies have announced their own raft of closings during 2017.

Company executives characterised the closings, announced with downbeat thirdquarter earnings results late Tuesday, as part of an effort to be where the buyers want to be.

“We must evolve our business model from a traditional brick-and-mortar specialty retailer to a digital-first omnichannel business,” J.Crew president Michael Nicholson told financial analysts during a conference call.

“We are committed to driving outsized growth with our strong e-commerce capabilities, complemented with a more appropriately sized real estate footprint, which now includes the closure of approximately 50 stores in fiscal 2017,” he said.

In announcing 20 shutdowns five months ago, Nicholson said the company would make necessary decisions “to close stores that are either underperforming or detract from our focus while continuing to invest in locations that serve our customer with a personalised approach and convenience they are looking for.”

Locations of the stores targeted for closing were not immediately announced.

As of late July, the company operated 575 total stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Hong Kong, according to emarketer.com.

The l ocations i nclude J.Crew and Madewell stores, as well as factory outlets, plus a catalogue and internet business.

The company announced the shutdowns along with widening loss. J.Crew’s net loss for the third quarter widened to $17.6 million compared to $7.9 million last year.