Even so, fifty of its UK shops have been earmarked for closing with the loss of up to 800 jobs, leaving the company with just 78 UK outlets by 2020.
It would seem rarely a month goes by without another of the UK’s biggest high street names closing shops, or falling into receivership. Reducing its physical presence is nothing new to Mothercare. Over the last five years the company has shut almost half its stores, and yet nothing seems to stop the rot.
Mothercare opened the first of its retail shops in 1961 and its mail-order arm in 1962. In 1972 the company went public, spreading into Europe and Asia through its franchise operations. And merging with the likes of Habitat, British Home Stores, and latterly, through its holding group Chelsea Stores Holdings Ltd, the Early Learning Centre.
The writing has been on the buggy for several years, yet it seems senior management ignored the signs. While ecommerce competition certainly impacted on turnover on the high street, and other up-coming retailers were undercutting Mothercare on price, ignoring the needs of your core market is business suicide.
As with so many of the high street retail giants, the personal touch disappeared. Young, first time mum’s-to-be, were left to their own devices when it came to picking what they would need for their first born. Add to that the fact in many shops they couldn’t even get their bright shiny new pram or buggy around the aisles, and eventually customer loyalty begins to wane.
In the first three months of 2018, Mothercare saw a further reduction of nearly 3% in like-for-like sales, attributed to a further reduction in consumer interest in its bricks and mortar operation. However, online sales through its internet outlets increased by over 2%, while sales through its own website increased by 7%.
It appears this round of 50 stores closing may not be the last. Mothercare’s CEO is quoted as saying, "My immediate priority is to ensure Mothercare is put back on a sound financial footing and to improve its financial performance. We continue to make good progress in reducing the size of our UK store estate in response to changing consumer preferences." For ‘changing consumer preferences,’ read internet shopping. Hopefully, the Mothercare brand will survive this current crisis, but its time as a high street presence may well be limited.
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