Wednesday 20th January 2021
Clear cut at perfumery chain
Douglas plans to close every tenth branch
The ongoing lockdown hits Douglas hard. In the wake of the pandemic, more and more customers are shopping online. Thus, the perfumery chain wants to close many shops – also in Germany. However, according to a report, the planned wave of closings will hit southern Europe particularly hard.
The perfumery chain Douglas is planning branch closings in Germany and Europe in view of the triumphant advance of online retail. In Europe, a total of up to 500 of the almost 2400 locations are to be eliminated, as reported by "Manager Magazin", citing corporate circles. The Douglas management team headed by Tina Müller will propose the cuts to the supervisory board at the end of January.
According to the trade journal "Lebensmittel Zeitung", the wave of closings could even affect "more than 500 branches". A company spokeswoman did not want to comment on the reports. However, Müller had already emphasized last summer: "Customer demand is changing. There is a trend away from stationary shopping to online shopping. We have to take this structural change into account by overhauling the branch network."
"Germany will be less affected by closings"
At that time, the group boss left no doubt that not all of the 2400 stores will survive the "revision" of the branch network. But she emphasized: "Germany will tend to be less affected by store closures than southern Europe." The lion's share of the closings are accounted for in Spain and Italy, where Douglas operates a network of very many very small shops as a result of acquisitions. The company is heavily indebted with 2.2 billion euros and hit hard by lockdowns all over Europe.
However, this also meant that Douglas' conversion to a digital retailer accelerated and the online business developed better than planned. In the 2020 calendar year, Douglas achieved sales of one billion euros via digital channels, writes "Manager Magazin". This was only announced for the current 2020/21 financial year.
Douglas caused a stir in December when the perfumery chain announced that its branches would open despite the lockdown imposed by the federal government. The company argued that they mainly sell drugstore items and therefore wanted to keep the branches open. Group boss Müller was sharply criticized for this and took the decision back a few days later. All Douglas stores have been closed since then.
.