Shoe Zone shuts 20 stores

The group said 470 of its 490 shops will reopen across the UK by the end of the month, when Wales and Scotland follow the lead of England next week, after deciding to call time on an another 20 sites.

Shoe Zone has stores in Shrewsbury, Telford, Wellington, Oswestry, Stafford, Cannock, Wolverhampton, Bilston, Walsall, Dudley, Merry Hill, Oldbury, Smethwick and West Bromwich.

It has not yet been confirmed which stores are closing.

It will also continue to review stores after reopening, as the high street looks to recover from the hammer blow of the pandemic.

Shoe Zone said it took "immediate action" after the UK was placed in lockdown in March, cutting jobs across its head office in Leicester and pausing all discretionary spend.

But shares fell three per cent as the group cautioned that the retail sector will take years to recover from the crisis.

Impact

Chief executive Anthony Smith said: "Covid-19 will continue to have an unprecedented impact on the UK economy and the retail industry.

"Whilst the group has taken all possible steps to ensure that the business will survive through the crisis and continue into the future, the impact is likely to continue to be felt for several years."

Shoe Zone's half-year results showed it swung to a £2.5 million loss in the six months to April 4, against profits of £1 million a year earlier.

Sales tumbled 5.6 per cent to £68.9 million, which it said was due to the pandemic and closure of all its shops on March 24 – with revenues having risen by 2.6 per cent in the five months to February.

It continued to sell online throughout the lockdown, with internet sales now accounting for 17 per cent of all sales, up from 6.5 per cent 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.