Shoe Zone shuts 20 stores and axes head office jobs

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Shoe Zone shuts 20 stores and axes head office jobs as it warns Covid aftermath will last for years

By Daily Mail City & Finance Reporter

Published: | Updated:

Retailer Shoe Zone has axed 20 stores and announced job losses at its head office to slash costs.

It said 470 of its 490 shops will reopen across the UK by the end of the month but it will continue to review stores while the High Street looks to recover from the pandemic.

After lockdown in March, it cut jobs at its Leicester base and paused all discretionary spending.

Covid struggle: Shoe Zone has axed 20 stores and announced job losses at its head office to slash costs

But shares fell 5.2 per cent as half-year results showed it swung to a £2.5million loss in the six months to April 4, against profits of £1million a year earlier. 

Sales tumbled 5.6 per cent to £68.9million.

It continued to sell online throughout the lockdown, with internet sales now accounting for 17% of all sales, up from 6.5% before thanks in part to aggressive buy-one-get-one-free discounting.

Shoe Zone said it took extra charges of £1.2 million from the coronavirus crisis, after £300,000 for redundancy costs and £900,000 in write-downs on the value of its store freeholds.

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