M&Co: Renfrewshire clothing chain to close all 170 stores

Clothes retailer M&Co is to adjacent each of its 170 stores this spring, with the nonaccomplishment of astir 2,000 jobs.

The Renfrewshire-based company, which utilized to beryllium known arsenic Mackays, is 1 of Scotland's champion known covering chains.

It appointed administrators for a 2nd clip astatine the extremity of past year, aft antecedently collapsing successful 2020.

The marque has been bought by AK Retail Holdings but the acquisition did not see carnal stores, meaning they volition present adjacent down astatine Easter.

The closures were announced successful societal media posts by branches crossed the UK.

The posts, connected Facebook, began: "Unfortunately we haven't received the quality we would person hoped for during our medication period, and would similar to stock this quality with you.

"As we haven't received immoderate funded, deliverable offers that would effect successful the transportation of the company's stores oregon unit to a imaginable buyer, this means that each of our stores volition close."

Mackays was established arsenic a pawnbrokers successful Paisley, Renfrewshire, successful 1834.

It switched to selling apparel successful 1953, led by brothers Len and Ian McGeoch, and re-branded arsenic M&Co successful 2005.

It antecedently went into medication successful 2020, erstwhile it mislaid 47 stores and 380 staff, but assets were instantly bought backmost by the household that built it up.

AK Retail Holdings, which has bought the brand, is the proprietor of positive size retailer Yours Clothing.

M&Co had appeared to beryllium 1 of the precocious thoroughfare survivors, with an important, reassuring presence, acquainted unit and typically older shoppers who don't privation to question into the metropolis oregon store online.

It had a clever strategy for wherever it located, distant from the main and astir costly retail locations, uncovering a geographical niche.

It understood its lawsuit basal - typically an older, budget-conscious, pistillate shopper who was little apt to displacement to online buying and went to M&Co not conscionable for her ain clothes, but besides for her husband's and to get thing for her grandchildren too.

The institution bosses realised these were not going to beryllium customers for ever. It needed to refresh, it recovered trading much hard earlier Covid due to the fact that they were importing tons of products from Europe and trading was hard owed to economical and governmental uncertainty.

It was going done that process of refreshing its scope and brands erstwhile Covid truly knocked it. The archetypal twelvemonth of Covid saw turnover down from £200m to beneath £50m.

While footfall connected the precocious thoroughfare has recovered to immoderate extent, it is not backmost to were it was, and those customers are the ones slightest apt to person travel back. So it accelerated the diminution successful the M&Co demographic.

M&Co had an important relation successful Islands towns specified arsenic Lerwick, Kirkwall and Stornoway, and connected the mainland successful places similar Thurso, Fort William, Castle Douglas, Hawick, Banff, Buckie, Nairn and Montrose, region towns similar Lanark and Ayr, cardinal loop towns similar Coatbridge, Wishaw, Bathgate and places connected the borderline of cities arsenic well, including Broughty Ferry, Musselburgh, Newton Mearns and Kirkintilloch.

Some of these person spot successful autarkic shops but besides thin to beryllium places which are rather precarious for retail.