The Old British Department Store, Marsha, Will Close All The 10 Remaining Stores In The Mainland Of China.

Old British brand

Marks&Spencer Martha lost the Chinese market.

According to the news, the group announced today that it will close all the remaining 10 stores in the mainland, and it is expected that 441 workers will be affected.

Up till now, the group has not disclosed the staff's post resettlement plan.

In the first half of its performance report, the group pointed out that, due to the blind expansion in recent years, net profit fell by 90.21% to 16 million 900 thousand pounds in the 6 months ended October 1st, operating income almost no growth, only 0.85% to 4 billion 994 million pounds, the basic pre tax profit fell 17% to 231 million pounds compared with the same period last year, far below the analysts' expected 8% decline.

When the news came out, the group's share price plunged 5% to 331.5 a share today, and its market value is about 5 billion 392 million pounds.

It is noteworthy that in the first half of 2016, the group

Sector sales fell by 5.3% over the previous year, which is the five consecutive year of loss in the sector. According to the data, the clothing business in the first 13 weeks of July 2nd also recorded the biggest decline in the past 10 years.

Marsha general store includes 10

The international business income recorded 171 million pounds, a loss of 45 million pounds, and some markets have been losing more than 5 consecutive years.

The group pointed out that the main reasons for the loss include scattered retail shops, insufficient scale and limited growth potential. Therefore, MSHA plans to close 53 stores in 10 regions including China, France and Holland.

According to Martha's report, if the above scheme is implemented, the non basic cost generated is about 150 million to 200 million pounds, most of which come mainly from the cash cost of property related and layoffs.

Up to now, Marsha has 268 franchised stores worldwide, and has launched online businesses in 21 regions.

In the announcement, Marsha said that mainland consumers could continue to buy Marsha's products through major online platforms such as Tmall and Jingdong, and the group will continue to evaluate the best way to maintain online business in mainland China.

Since April this year, Steve Rowe, the group's chief executive, has abandoned the ambitions of former executives to create global retail groups, streamlined the management of senior management and reduced office spending, and reduced the number of discount promotions.

Marsha general store began to enter the Chinese mainland market in 2008. At its peak, 20 stores were opened in the mainland, but in recent years it has not developed smoothly.

Last year, the group closed down 5 stores in Shanghai and laid off 60 people before August 2015.

Some analysts believe that the brand mode of Martha's franchise has not been approved by Chinese consumers, but its British sentiment is considered "acclimatized" to the Chinese market.

When the competitors changed rapidly, the old department store showed too conservative and prudent.

Over the past two years, department stores have been showing a downward trend in overall retail formats, and their performance has been losing ground.

Messi's Department announced earlier that it was about to close its 100 chain stores in early 2017. This is the second time since January of this year that the Department of Commerce has decided to go out of business as a result of a decline in performance. This is the 100 time in January.

As online shopping is becoming more and more popular, physical department stores are becoming more and more difficult to attract more customers.