Ted Baker announces closure of all UK stores amid financial struggles
Ted Baker, a fashion store that is facing difficulty, is close to going out of business in the UK. They are set to shut down all their stores in a matter of weeks. The company that runs Ted Baker stores in the UK, No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), declared bankruptcy in March.
Since that time, 15 stores in the UK have shut down, leading to around 245 job layoffs. The Sun newspaper was the first to report that employees at the stores that are still open have been told they will lose their jobs when the stores close in the next three weeks.
Yet, it is important to note that these plans are still in progress, even though employees have been informed about them. Before going bankrupt, Ted Baker had a total of 46 stores in the UK and had approximately 975 employees.
Authentic Brands, a company from the United States that owns Juicy Couture and Reebok, still holds the intellectual property rights of Ted Baker. They were looking to secure a new partner to oversee the Ted Baker stores and online operations in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The shutting down of the stores in the UK might mean that they will no longer have a presence on main streets. The company was started in 1988 by Ray Kelvin and is famous for its clothing with patterns and flowers. However, the brand is still being sold in places like John Lewis and House of Fraser.
It is said that Ted Baker had a tough time during the pandemic and encountered increasing difficulties as more customers shifted towards shopping online. Several stores around the country have already shut down, such as those in Bridgend, Belfast, Sheffield, and Manchester.
There is a noticeable increase in brick-and-mortar shops shutting down, with the latest being Careptright which was acquired by Tapi. Carpetright has announced the closure of over 200 stores in the UK and the laying off of 1,000 employees.
However, the executives mentioned that the agreement would preserve over 308 positions at Carpetright.
