Footwear chain Bristol to close 20 branches in the Netherlands and Belgium

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
May 31, 2018

Footwear chain Bristol will be closing 20 of its 270 branches in the Netherlands and Belgium. As a result of the 20 store closures, about 60 employees will lose their jobs. Plans to convert Shoe Discount stores into Bristol chains have also been put on hold for the time being.

In an interview with Belgian newspaper De Tijd, the Vanaudenhove family, owner of Bristol’s parent company Euro Shoe Group, said that the retailer is currently focusing on a new strategy. The company aims to further rollout its e-commerce plans and hire new people.

The retailer also aims to open newly decorated test stores this summer. “We have to work on our image and bring more fun into our stores,” Elise Vanaudenhove, business manager for Belgium at Euro Shoe Groep, told the newspaper.

Bristol currently achieves about three to five percent of its revenue online, a share that has to grow to 10 percent within the next five to six years. The retailer said that the online store grows by 30 percent annually, which is comparable in size to three times the growth of the largest Bristol store. Bristol considers e-commerce complementary the physical stores, but told the newspaper that it will become an important addition in the long run.

More than a year ago, Bristol announced that they would like to open 100 new stores, but CEO Philippe Vanaudenhove now says that these plans never existed. “It was an exaggeration to gain media attention,” he told De Tijd.

Euro Shoe Group currently employs 1850 people.  The company achieved a turnover of € 207 million in 2017.