winkelsluiting

Europe goes in lockdown: countries close their borders, chains close their stores. Measures against the spread of the coronavirus become more drastic, but differ in each country. How will retailers cope?

Belgian fashion label Essentiel Antwerp has decided to stop designing collections for men, in order to focus fully on its women's collections. The label's store that focuses on men, in the Schuttershofstraat in Antwerp, is closing its doors.

Aldi is to leave its founding store in Essen. One hundred years after the creation of the chain, the Huestrasse site has become too small and is to be closed. However, the move also symbolises a shift in power within the discounter’s management team.

British department store chain Debenhams is implementing an intense recovery plan with some vigour: fifty stores will have to close, thirty others will be downsized.

Game store chain Game Mania (which has 75 stores in Belgium and the Netherlands) wants to increase the speed with which it is closing its stores, as the fast-growing web shop makes regular stores obsolete. Speciality stores do still have a future, others will have to close.

Roberto Cavalli is about to close all of its stores in the United States. The Italian fashion brand is circling the drain and has decided to dispose of its American activities in an effort to stay afloat.

American shoe chain Foot Locker has seen its turnover rise 2 % to a record of almost 7 billion euros in 2018, which is more than analysts had expected. The biggest turnover growth was in existing stores, but still the chain has decided to close 165 stores this year.