The 120 Men'S Retail Stores In Britain Are Expected To Close At The End Of June.

British bankruptcy announced at the end of April this year.

Austin Reed Group Ltd., the retailer, is having worse news. Its 120 stores are expected to close at the end of June and match the offer conditions of potential purchasers.

According to reports, Edinburgh Woollen Mill has acquired Austin Reed Group Ltd.'s brand name Austin Reed and its name.

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But it only bought 5 Austin Reed stores.

Alix Partners, a business consultant and consultant commissioned by Austin Reed Group Ltd., said that the other 120 stores of Austin Reed were unsought.

In this regard, Alix Partners joint bankruptcy administrator Peter Saville said that since the employment of Austin Reed Group Ltd. has been in contact with all parties, to explore various feasibility of the sale plan, but ultimately, in view of the difficult market environment, we have to take the most difficult strategy of closing shop strategy.

If Austin Reed finally closes 120 stores, it will cause more than 1000 people to lose their jobs.

According to the bankruptcy trusteeship document of Austin Reed Group Ltd., the company operates 100 independent stores and 50 franchise stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with 1184 employees, while the total number of 5 stores purchased by Edinburgh Woollen Mill is 28.

The Austin Reed Group Ltd., founded by Austin Leonard Reed in 1900, was originally custom tailoring, and later began selling men's garments. Now it also owns women's brand Viyella and Country Casuals.

The late prime minister Winston Churchill Churchill and the The Beatles Beatles were all clients of Austin Reed.

In 2011, Austin Reed Group Ltd. sold the flagship store, Regent Street, 113, which opened in 1911, and moved to a smaller store. Last year, it would be of no avail to shut down 31 loss stores on a large scale.

The report submitted by Austin Reed Group Ltd. to the British companies registry showed that it recorded a revenue of 100 million 500 thousand pounds in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015, down 7.9% compared to the same period last year, and the pre tax loss also expanded from 1 million 200 thousand pounds in the same period last year to 5 million 400 thousand pounds.

The Austin Reed brand, once famous in the UK and Burberry Group PLC (BRBY.L) Boboli, Aquascutum and Daks, has been greatly lagged behind by the fast changing consumer dress habits and the habit of buying across the channel.

The industry believes that although the external retail environment is one of the reasons for Austin Reed bankruptcy, the group's own strategy is probably even more fatal.

Retail industry consultant Rupert Eastell said the group's product range was minimal, and its store experience was extremely bad. In addition, Austin Reed was far behind the times in the development of multi-channel, while Britain was the most developed country in the world fashion business, and even surpassed the US.

In addition, he also pointed out that the demand for formal clothing has also shrunk in recent years. Neil Saunders, a retail consultancy Conlumino analyst, said that Austin Reed had been abandoned by some loyal customers of its brand in order to maintain price stability and sacrifice quality at the expense of quality.

In an interview with the guardian, Richard Hyman, an independent retail consultant, also said that Austin Reed was at a disadvantage in peer competition. One reason is that the company has no funds to invest in stores and products.

After the exhaustion of liquidity, Austin Reed Group Ltd. owner Alteri Investors allowed the British traditional brand to enter bankruptcy protection process at the end of April, while hiring Alix Partners selling.

Alteri Investors, which specializes in investing in troubled retailers, acquired all issued shareholders' loan notes and equity capital of Gajan Holdings of Austin Reed Group Ltd. holdings in April 18th.

Alteri Investors chief executive Gavin George said the move was intended to protect its status as a secondary creditor of Austin Reed Group Ltd.. He revealed that Wells Fargo&Co. (NYSE:WFC) Wells Fargo was a senior creditor.