Fashion retailer Quiz closes 15 UK stores after coronavirus lockdown
Fashion retailer Quiz has announced it will permanently close around 15 stores in the UK following the UK coronavirus lockdown.
The company is only planning to reopen around 60 of its 75 stores. It has reopened 48 sites since non-essential retailers were given the go-ahead to trade in June.
Quiz has also reduced the number of concession stores from 164 to 141.
Quiz said it had agreed rental terms for the reopened stores that are “consistent with those targeted by the group”, and are mainly tied to revenues rather than the previous fixed rental arrangements.
The high street retailer has opened four of its stores in the Republic of Ireland, with negotiations ongoing in relation to a further two sites.
The company will not reopen its three Spanish branches.
Between the 1 April and 1 August, which included the lockdown of physical stores and the two week closure of its online store, Quiz suffered a 77 per cent drop in sales to £12.8m
Online sales, which have seen a sharp uptick across most of the retail sector, plunged 54 per cent during the period.
The company said it had responded to the slump in demand by slashing prices, reducing gross margin by around six per cent.
Quiz said it would not continue that level of discounting for the rest of the year.