Australian-born fashion label Sass & Bide is preparing to close 10 stores across Australia and New Zealand, slimming down to four stores, with the aim to shift focus on concessions and online.
Two stores in Queensland, one in Victoria and another in Western Australia will continue to operate. Two of these stores are located in outlet centres.
Sass & Bide managing director Paula Mackenzie - who also manages Marcs and David Lawrence under the Myer portfolio - confirmed the news, saying it comes after a review of operations for the fashion label.
The ten stand-alone stores will close on October 6 next month, including Bondi, Miranda, Canberra, Chadstone, Doncaster, Emporium, Rundle Street, Newmarket (NZ), Karrinyup and Paddington.
“As part of our overall business strategy, we are aiming to deliver a leading offer and experience for our customers while also improving productivity and efficiency across the businesses,” Mackenzie said.
“This includes ensuring our store and concessions network and support office is operating sustainably in the current trading environment.
“We have been reviewing the store footprint for S&B to ensure it is aligned with our popular in-store concessions and growing online business, meeting the needs of our loyal customers and operating sustainably.”
Alongside the plan to expand the concession network, Mackenzie said she and her team will also be expanding the presence of Marcs and David Lawrence in Myer stores.
“These brands are highly popular and in-demand with customers, and we look forward to saying more on this soon,” she said.
The planned store closures will also see a reduction in support office roles, but no specific number was shared.
“We are mindful that this difficult decision will have an impact on affected team members," Mackenzie said. "We will be offering all available support to them and will offer redeployment, where possible for our store team members.
“These decisions were not taken lightly but they are necessary to ensure the business is repositioned for growth and is sustainable into the future. It ensures we have the appropriate sustainable balance between online, concessions and standalone stores to meet our customer’s needs. It also structures our SSO in the most effective way to support our team.”
The retail shift for Sass & Bide comes after Myer reported a full-year FY24 sales drop of 2.9 per cent, which was driven down by an "underperformance" across its three owned brands.