The move will see the closing of 110 Wilsons Leather and 89 G.H. Bass stores as its parent company undergoes a restructuring.
Hilco Global has been hired to assist in the liquidation of the stores, which will begin immediately or as the locations reopen. The restructuring comes as G-III Apparel Group Ltd. looks to reduce its store portfolio and focus more on its wholesale business.
The business said it will focus on its wholesale business which is anchored by its five global “power” brands: DKNY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Karl Lagerfeld. After the restructuring is completed, the company’s retail operations segment will consist of 41 DKNY and 13 Karl Lagerfeld Paris stores, along with the e-commerce sites for DKNY, Donna Karan, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Andrew Marc, Wilsons Leather and G.H. Bass.
“We have completed a comprehensive review of our retail operations segment,” said Morris Goldfarb, chairman and CEO, G-III. “With a focus on enhancing shareholder value, we have made the difficult decision to close all of the Wilsons Leather and G. H. Bass stores and have entered into agreements for the early lease termination of a significant majority of these stores. We believe that this restructuring plan will enable us to greatly reduce our retail losses and to ultimately have this segment become profitable.”
