Chinese-owned House Of Fraser Shuts Some Stores

House of Fraser, the Chinese-owned department store chain, is shutting more than half its shops across Britain and Ireland, risking the loss of 6,000 jobs, it said on Thursday.

It said it would close 31 of its 59 stores, as British retailers suffer from weak household spending amid Brexit uncertainty.

Chinese conglomerate Sanpower had bought majority 89-percent holding in House of Fraser in a deal worth £480 million in 2014.

Thursday's announcement was aimed at securing the sale of a 51-percent stake to China's C.banner International Holdings, which already owns London toy retailer Hamleys.

"The retail industry is undergoing fundamental change and House of Fraser urgently needs to adapt to this fast-changing landscape in order to give it a future and allow it to thrive," House of Fraser chairman Frank Slevin said in a statement.

A spokesman confirmed the figure of 6,000 potential job losses, adding that this would comprise both company employees and concession staff.

Stores scheduled for closure include the retailer's flagship shop on London's Oxford Street, as well as its store in the capital's City finance district.

"Our legacy store estate has created an unsustainable cost base, which without restructuring, presents an existential threat to the business," Slevin said.

"So whilst closing stores is a very difficult decision, especially given the length of relationship House of Fraser has with all its locations, there should be no doubt that it is absolutely necessary if we are to continue to trade and be competitive."

The group, whose history dates back to 1849, plans also to relocate its London head office to a new location to slash costs.

Affected stores are expected to remain open until early 2019.

Last month, British food-to-clothing retailer Marks and Spencer said it would shut more than 100 UK stores as it looks to shift at least one third of overall sales online.

Emphasising the fast-growing shift to online among British consumers, Amazon on Wednesday said it plans 2,500 new UK jobs by the end of the year.

In a sign of more gloom for Britain's retailers struggling to compete with online titans such as Amazon, budget chain Poundworld is separately seeking a rescue plan to safeguard more than 5,000 jobs, according to a source. (AFP)