Around 20 Teesside jobs are at risk after the country’s largest dry cleaning chain announced it was closing more than a third of its stores.
Johnson Service Group plans to shut 109 of its 307 branches as it continues a shift away from traditional high street locations towards collection and delivery points within supermarkets.
The company, which has outlets in Norton, Marton, Yarm, Guisborough and Darlington, has not disclosed how many jobs will go or which stores will close.
But with a typical store employing four people, the planned closures could affect around 20 people locally and 400 across the UK.
A spokesperson for Johnson said: “We are commencing a consultation exercise with affected employees and anticipate that branches will close during the first half of the year.
“The remaining 198 better-performing premium branches are in more convenient locations with an infrastructure capable of receiving dry cleaning from various collection and delivery points.”
Johnson, which also closed more than 100 branches in 2012, said its dry cleaning business failed to boost sales last year despite several initiatives to reach new customers.
The company has established collection and delivery points in office premises with a high concentration of staff and now has a presence within 78 Waitrose stores, with a further 46 locations due to be opened in the early part of this year.
The company is also planning to launch an online home collection and delivery service for higher-value or bulky items.
The majority of stores set for closure have leases expiring within the next two years, with renewal not seen as financially viable.
No comments:
Post a Comment