New Look to phase out sale of menswear range in stores

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 9, 2019

New Look’s menswear collection will become an online-only category, the struggling fashion retailer confirmed to FashionNetwork.com on Tuesday.

“New Look is removing menswear from its UK and Ireland stores but will continue to sell the range online and on third party platforms,” a spokesperson announced.  

“The extra space will allow the company to extend its womenswear and 915 [kidswear] ranges and form part of a greater in-store concessions offer.”

The decision will impact the company’s dedicated menswear stores, which amounted to 22 at the end of financial year 2018 before the company announced 85 store closures across its UK portfolio.

New Look began expanding its footprint in the menswear market in 2015 as it hoped to capitalise on the sector’s booming growth. Globally, menswear is expected to be worth $460bn by 2020, and in the UK it is expected to grow by 0.7% by 2020, compared with an expected 0.2% decline in the UK womenswear market, according to a 2017 report from Euromonitor.

But New Look is now fully focused on improving the performance of its core womenswear and accessories categories. In 2018, the retailer said it lost connection with its core customers, which had a negative impact on its sales and resulted in a 7.3% decline in annual revenue.

Since then, some womenswear categories, including dresses, tops and bottoms, have experienced an improvement, but the company continues to see challenges with its footwear and accessories ranges. In the first three quarters of the year, revenues at the company fell by 5%.

And the British clothing company has more things to worry about. Last month, the company announced that its French business had filed for reorganisation, while New Look Poland has filed for insolvency and will wind up its operations.

Former House of Fraser CEO Nigel Oddy has come on board as chief operating officer to help the company reposition itself for future growth.