Clothing chain C&A wants to cut 230 jobs in its European headquarters: 160 in German Düsseldorf and 70 in Belgian Vilvoorde.
Cut costs
“We intend to increase our competitiveness across Europe and create a sustainable business thanks to this restructuring plan. We will simplify our company’s structure in order to cut costs”, the chain stated. No Belgian stores will be targeted, which means that those 2,000 jobs are safe.
Moreover, the company is also working on a new store formula, as announced late last year. The project, which will require a billion euro investment, will modernize its store network, but also spell the end of several onerous stores.
Modernize
About a third of the chain’s 1,500 European stores should be modernized by the end of the year, and the aim is to reach 80 % within five years’ time. The new formula’s main goal is to get turnover up again, because the chain has suffered from dwindling sales for several years. “C&A would like to emphasize it will continue to adapt to an evolving market through investments into its brand, its collections and its omnichannel strategy, which will strongly link its store network and its online shop”, spokesperson Sven Verresen said in November 2016.
It is yet another step in the chain’s store network improvement: C&A had already decided to shut down its Turkish operations in the summer of 2016 because they were not profitable enough. Similarly, profitability was also the reason 23 of its 106 Spanish stores and two of its Dutch stores in Utrecht (Pijnacker and Nijverdal) were shut down.
