Shoe chain sees losses deepen
HIGH street shoe chain Stylo has announced losses of more than £9m as tough conditions on the high street continue to affect business.
The Bradford-based owner of Barratts, PriceLess and Shellys, saw losses widen from £7.5m to £9.3m over the first half of the year.
Stylo’s sales rose 5.7% to £105.7m for the 26 weeks to August 2, equating to a like-for-like sales decline of 3.2% because of a poor summer.
Stylo said that costs, including rent, rates and wages, continued to increase faster than the levels of turnover and margin at the group over the period.
Stylo chairman and chief executive Michael Ziff said the business had been the victim of exceptionally difficult retail conditions and also reflected a turbulent period in the UK shoe industry.
At the start of the year, Dolcis and Stead & Simpson both went into administration – with Faith following them.
Mr Ziff said Stylo has benefited from these changes by getting the opportunity to run the Bay Trading concessions as well as acquiring Dolcis stock and the Dolcis brand name.
He said the company was working on implementing a strategic recovery programme to return the business to profitability by embarking on aggressive cost cutting programme and closing unprofitable stores.
Mr Ziff said: “The loss for the period is a reflection of the exceptionally difficult retail and economic climate in which we operate. Market conditions in the economy generally are perhaps harder than I have known them to be and certainly difficult to predict with some weeks showing positive signs and other weeks being particularly difficult. However, trading was strong in our children’s range during the back to school period and I am encouraged by the early sales of boots, which appear to indicate being on trend for the autumn and winter period.
“We will continue to manage our stocks tightly to reduce mark-downs, and are continuing to work closely with our supply base through these challenging times, particularly in a market with fewer shoe retailers.”
