THE future of Bathurst based clothing retailers Rivers, Autograph, Katies, City Chic and Millers remains uncertain after their parent company announced plans to close 300 stores across the country.
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Struggling retailer Specialty Fashion made the announcement it will close hundreds of under performing stores in an attempt to revive the company's fortunes, following a massive shareholder revolt.
Exactly which stores will be closed is unclear, with calls to the company’s Sydney based headquarters going unanswered this week.
Individual retailers transferred media inquiries to regional managers, who in turn forwarded all inquiries to head office.
While the future of the Bathurst based Millers, Katies, Autograph, City Chic and Rivers stores remains unclear, the company has already closed it’s Bathurst Crossroads store.
The store, which was in the Bathurst City Centre, shut its doors permanently a week ago, with the shop now empty, with the exception of a few fixtures.
The shareholder revolt came after a majority of shareholders (51 per cent) voted against the group's remuneration report at its annual meeting on Tuesday – twice the amount required to register a "first strike" that will put the board at risk of being split if there is a protest vote again next year.
And 34 per cent of shareholders voted against the re-election of director Michael Hardwick, who is chief financial officer at fellow retailer Cotton On.
The protest vote comes after Specialty Fashion ran at an after-tax loss of $8.8 million last year, a $2.1 million loss in 2016 and a $4.4 million loss in 2015.
Specialty also issued a profit warning last month, citing difficult market conditions in the first quarter that would see underlying earnings in the first half fall from $30 million last year to between $14 million and $17 million.
On Tuesday the group said it would close about 300 under-performing stores over the next three years, to bring it to a footprint of about 700 outlets.