Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. recently filed for bankruptcy protection after closure of all its stores due to lockdown aggravated the apparel retailer’s already-weakening business. The pandemic has “pushed the retail industry into a new and unknown era,” the Montreal-based firm said in a statement. It is trying to secure interim financing, it said, without offering details.
It’s also in discussions with lenders for a permanent financing upon exit from the restructuring process.Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. recently filed for bankruptcy protection after closure of all its stores due to lockdown aggravated the apparel retailer's already-weakening business. The pandemic has “pushed the retail industry into a new and unknown era,” the firm said in a statement. It is trying to secure interim financing, it said, without offering details.#
The company operates about 576 stores and employs 6,800 people worldwide under brands that include Addition Elle, RW & Co. and Thyme Maternity. It requested court protection through the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada.
The company expects to remain fully operational through e-commerce. Physical stores will reopen when provincial and regional government guidelines allow it, it said.
The retailer temporarily laid off 90 per cent of its store employees and 30 per cent of the workers in its headquarters as a result of the pandemic. It has also reduced wages of its remaining staff.
The company’s net loss for the quarter ending February 1 was C$51.7 million ($37.2 million), compared with a net loss of C$8.9 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Sales rose by 1 per cent and gross profit declined.
The retailer, popular for affordable women’s office wear, was founded in 1926 and bears the name of the family that started the business.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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