Mozaïek Brands will close more than 200 stores, including Rockmans, Autograph and W.Lane
Fashion giant Mozaïek Brands is about to close five of its major retail franchises.
The Rockmans, Autograph, Crossroads, W.Lane and BeMe brands, including their stores and websites, will be closed by Mosaic, CEO Erica Berchtold confirmed.
The company is Australia’s largest women’s fashion retail group and has more than 4,000 employees in more than 700 stores across Australia.
“Mosaic will phase out five brands that have become marginal and non-core, allowing us to focus on five core growth brands,” Berchtold said.
‘Each of these core brands will have a clearly differentiated market proposition, target group, price point and product range.’
The group will now focus on the Millers, Noni B, Rivers and Katies brands.
“While the operational details of the rationalization plan, including store closures, continue to be worked out, we will seek to minimize the impact on our team, including where possible reassigning affected team members to roles across the five core brands.
‘Our Focus on Core is a growth-driven strategy to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Central to this strategy, Mosaic will continue to focus on serving regional Australia.”
Fashion retailer Mozaïek Brands is about to close more than five major retailer brands.
According to Mosaic’s August 2023 financial report, it had 150 Rockmans stores, 49 Autograph stores and 32 W.Lane stores, while BeMe and Crossroads exist as online-only stores.
Some of the Rockmans, Autograph and W.Lane stores could potentially be converted into the remaining core brands.
Queensland University of Technology Business School retail expert Professor Gary Mortimer said Mosaic Brands made the mistake of “essentially creating multiple brands to market to exactly the same target group: middle-aged and middle-class women”.
He said the demographic shopped at the same stores, so they were eating into their own market.
“If you walk into a shopping center you will find at least two, if not three, of these brands all competing for the same customer and that doubles and triples the cost of doing business,” he told newscorp.
Professor Mortimer compared the approach to the problem Kmart and Target faced several years ago when competing with two other Wesfarmers discount stores.
Mosaic currently has a total of approximately 763 stores in Australia and New Zealand, but is seeking to focus more on the major Rivers megastores in regional Australia as part of its ‘BIG strategy’.
Earlier this year, Mosaic encountered challenges as it migrated to a new, fully integrated supply chain and distribution system with a new global partner, and was short on inventory for the key Mother’s Day trading period.
The company’s shares have been suspended from the ASX since September 2 due to a delay in the filing of its 2023/24 financial report, which was due in August.
Mosaic said on Monday that the delay was due to events outside the reporting period, which would affect disclosures accompanying the audited results.
It worked with partners and stakeholders and received the support of its senior lender, Mosaic said.
In February, Mosaic said it made a net profit of $5.4 million, up 38 percent from the previous quarter.
But the company also ended 2022/2023 with a net debt position of $66 million, including $39 million in debt and $45 million in lease liabilities, which the annual report noted could “cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to maintain its maintain continuity’.
