Country Road closes stores; Pickled Possum calls last drinks; Chanel opens
The venerable Australian fashion retailer Country Road – known for setting the standard in women's power suits over the decades – is closing a number of stores as falling sales prompt its South African owner to scale back its footprint.
One of Country Road's long-standing outlets, a store at the Market Street entrance to the Queen Victoria Building in central Sydney, has closed, while its sister brand Trenery has shut up shop at 856 Military Road in Mosman.
Country Road's large shop at 742 Military Road in Mosman is closed for renovations, while the brand's Pitt Street Mall store on the corner of King Street is also earmarked to shut when its lease expires in about 2028.
Country Road was founded in 1974 and is also known for its smart-casual men's, women's and kids' clothes, as well as homewares and accessories. It expanded rapidly after opening and was one of the first major Australian brands to set up shop in the United States.
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It and Trenery are owned by South Africa's Woolworths Holdings, a Johannesburg-listed retailer, which formerly owned upmarket department store David Jones.
Changing fashion trends, heightened by hybrid working and a casual work attire, has seen demand for suits and formal wear decline, eating away at the sales of retailers like Country Road.
In its latest results, Woolworths Holdings said sales fell by nearly 8 per cent in the 26 weeks to December 29 last year and operating profit dropped 71.7 per cent to just $14.2 million.
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