Mothercare has revealed that it will now proceed to close 60 stores over the next 12 months rather than the 50 it had originally earmarked. Most of the additional stores closing, form part of the Childrens World chain. This will increase the number of redundancies from the previously estimated 800 to 900.
Market watchers are saying that 60 stores may not be enough and that the retailer would do better to refurbish a smaller number of destination stores in better performing locations and divert more funding to driving footfall and web traffic as well as into the production of better exclusive ranges. Competition remains fierce for Mothercare from the supermarket and discount chains as well as department stores, pureplay online operators and smaller, more nimble multichannel specialists.
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