Quiz's Glasgow centre to deliver the goods as English stores go into lockdown

Quiz, the “fast fashion” retailer, has stressed that its Glasgow distribution centre and websites will continue to serve customers as its English stores shut amid the November lockdown.

In September, fashion retailer Quiz said it has been 'encouraged' by a sales recovery in recent weeks but about 15 of its UK stores are to remain shuttered in the wake of a major restructuring.

The Glasgow-headquartered group confirmed that its 36 stores and 114 concessions in England were now closed in accordance with the four-week lockdown announced by the Westminster government.

The company’s four stores and 11 concessions in the Republic of Ireland will also remain closed until December 2 in accordance with current restrictions.

Meanwhile, the group’s 18 stores and nine concessions in Scotland and four stores and 13 concessions in Northern Ireland remain open, “pending any national or regional changes in restrictions on non-essential retail”.

The firm’s two stores and seven concessions in Wales, which are currently closed in accordance with the country’s two-week firebreak, are scheduled to reopen on November 9.

In an update to investors, Quiz added: “The group has placed and will continue to place all store and concession colleagues on furlough where there has been an enforced closure.

“Quiz’s website, quizclothing.co.uk, as well as the websites of many of Quiz’s trading partners, will continue to serve customers. In order to service its own website sales, the group’s distribution centre in Glasgow will operate in strict accordance with all health authority guidance.”

In September, the group said it has been “encouraged” by a sales recovery in recent weeks but about 15 of its UK stores are to remain shuttered in the wake of a major restructuring.

Releasing a trading update which laid bare the impact of the pandemic on its business, the group told investors that 48 of the 75 UK outlets it operated prior to lockdown had reopened, and it expects to increase this to 60 sites in total.

The update on its restructuring came as the company revealed that overall revenues plunged by 77 per cent to £13 million for the five months to the end of August after it was hammered by the enforced closure of stores.

It said it also discounted heavily on products to account for “lower demand”, meaning gross profit margins slid by around 6 per cent.

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