Bonmarché to discontinue menswear

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Nov 22, 2016

British value retailer Bonmarché announced plans to end its menswear trial following a 63% decline in profits in the first half of 2016.

The company, which focuses on the 50 plus womenswear market, launched a menswear trial in October 2014, launching a collection for men in 50 stores across the UK.

This week Bonmarché said the menswear line will be discontinued once the Christmas season collection is sold through.

“Whilst this was an interesting initiative to trial, borne out of requests from customers, it lacks sufficient potential to justify its space in stores and the resource required to effectively execute it. During H1 of FY16, it represented just 0.6% of sales,” reported the company.

In the 26 weeks to 24 September 2016, the retailer declined its pre-tax profits to £2.0m, compared with £5.4m in the prior year’s period. Revenue was down 4% to £93.1m.

Bonmarché said the decline came on the back of unseasonable weather and the impact of BHS closing down as it cleared its residual stocks at discounted prices after collapsing into administration in April 2016.