Christo Wiese fashion faux pas: Last look for New Look, China

EDINBURGH — Brait's investment in UK fashion retailer New Look has been a key factor in the company's share price lingering in the doldrums. Christo Wiese, non-executive chairperson of Brait until he stepped down earlier this year, was credited with the South African company driving a hard bargain to purchase New Look in 2015. But the £780m spent on the retailer was written down to zero last year, with New Look reporting operating losses and a drop in revenue. Soon after Brait took over in 2015, the global news media was covered in reports that the fashion chain would rapidly expand its 30-store chain in China. Instead of the 60 extra stores planned for the consumer-oriented nation, it would add at least 80, it said. This was on top of additional stores in Poland and France, The Guardian reported at the time. Wiese also played a key role in Steinhoff, the growth-hungry South African multinational retailer that has teetered on the brink of collapse after financial irregularities were exposed within its books around this time last year. Wiese later stepped down from his role as chairman of Steinhoff and is suing the company in connection with his losses as a major shareholder. – Jackie Cameron.By Thulasizwe Sithole.New Look, the UK high street fashion chain, is to close its retail operations in China as part of a wider review of its international strategy that follows a deal with creditors earlier this year, reports the Financial Times..The retailer announced its push into China five years ago as one of the flagship initiatives of then-newly appointed chief executive Anders Kristiansen, who left the company last year after a string of disappointing results, it says..___STEADY_PAYWALL___."On Thursday, New Look said it had been gradually reducing the number of its stores in the country and now intended to close the remaining 120 outlets by the end of December. The head office in Shanghai would shut soon after, the company added.."Despite substantial investments in China in recent years, performance has been below expectations and this business has not achieved the necessary sales and profitability to support the significant future investment required to continue these operations, New Look said in a statement.".The retrenchment from China, points out the FT, follows a scale-back of the fashion group in its domestic market, where it announced the potential closure of more than 10 per cent of its UK stores as part of a company voluntary arrangement, or CVA, agreed with creditors in March.."As the retail environment has become more challenging, chains across both the UK and US have been forced to strike deals with lenders to avoid collapse, including Sears and British store Mothercare.."New Look's executive chairman, Alistair McGeorge, said the company had made the 'difficult decision' to leave China after looking at the business's trading performance in the country and the cost of investing to carry on operating there..A strategic review of New Look's other international stores is still rumbling on, adds the FT.

Christo Wiese fashion faux pas: Last look for New Look, China

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