Bossini tells landlords it close stores if rents not reduced

Local clothing chain Bossini said it has suffered a loss of more than HK$367 million in its last financial year and warned that it may have to close some of its stores in the city unless landlords agree to provide more “reasonable” rent relief and reduction.

The clothing chain’s reported loss is almost three times more than the loss it incurred in the previous fiscal year.

It said the economy of its core markets, such as Hong Kong, had been hampered by the Sino-US trade tensions, social unrest last year, and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which affected local and tourist consumption in the SAR.

It also laid the blame on the fact that several landlords have been unwilling to reduce rents despite the harsh business environment.

“Social distancing, lockdowns, curfews and changing quarantine requirements have created immense challenges for our retail operations,” the company said on its outlook.

“As the overall shop rental expenses remain at a very unreasonable level, we are renegotiating with landlords across all our core markets, particularly in Hong Kong and Macau, to seek rent relief and reduction.”

“Where landlords are reluctant to respond reasonably to our requests, we will go ahead and close those shops.”