River Island, which is owned by the Lewis family has hired in PwC to support the development of a cost-reducing turnaround plan for the business. It is understood that River Island has also drafted in AlixPartners with a similar brief.
With around 230 River Island stores employing some 5,500 people, the retailer has been impacted by falling demand against fierce online competition, specifically from the likes of Shein, along with the rising overheads imposed on all UK headquartered retailers by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last October.
Any cost-cutting measures proposed for River Island are likely to be based around closing all unprofitable stores and dramatically reducing headcount.
River Island first emerged in 1988 as a rebrand of Chelsea Girl, which had been founded in 1965 together with Concept Man, which was launched in the 1980’s – these were rebrands of the original Lewis Separates, established in 1948 by Bernard Lewis.
Share