Coronavirus Australia: Bush outfitter RM Williams to close all stores

Coronavirus has taken another hit at the retail industry, with iconic bush outfitter RM Williams announcing its decision today.

RM Williams has announced it’s closing all stores effective immediately.

“After great deliberation, knowing this will impact each of us and our RMWilliams family in different ways, we are closing our Australian stores effective the 28th March,” it said on Saturday night.

The iconic bush outfitter said it had endured wars, droughts, and bushfires, but the coronavirus crisis had thrown the company into “unprecedented times”.

“At this moment in these unprecedented times, it is hard to see past the headlines and understand what lies ahead,” it said.

“The COVID-19 crisis has stopped us mid stride so to say, on a global level, affecting humanity at every level.”

RM Williams has announced it’s closing all stores. Picture: Supplied

It comes as David Jones will also close its small-format fashion stores, but keep the doors of its 46 major retail outlets open.

The small-format stores are located in James Street, Brisbane and Barangaroo in Sydney.

“Health and safety will always be our primary focus, but we are also focused on supporting the livelihoods of our teams and their families for every day possible. Given this we have made the decision to continue to keep our large format physical stores open as long as we are confident that we can operate our stores safely and to the standards required by all current government health and safety directives,” a David Jones spokesperson said.

Fashion stores Country Road, Mimco, Witchery, Trenery and Politix will also close tonight with the 500 staff stood down.

The Country Road network of 280 stores will remain closed for four weeks.

“With the continuing evolution of the COVID-19 situation, we believe the time is right to suspend trading across all Country Road Group stores until further notice,” Country Road Group CEO, Scott Fyfe, said.

“We will continue to welcome customers to the online stores of each of our brands throughout this time.”

Earlier on Saturday, Iconic Aussie brand Cotton On also joined the list of closing retailers.

From 5pm Sunday 29 March, all Australian Cotton On stores will be temporarily shut.

The Cotton On Group’s seven brands (including Typo, Rubi, Cotton On Body, Factorie, Cotton On Kids and Supre) have more than 670 stores scattered throughout Australia – all of which will shut their doors by Sunday night.

The nationwide closures will send the total jobs lost in the retail, hospitality and entertainment sectors this month in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to more than 100,000, The Australian reports.

Meanwhile, Aussie retail giant Myer announced yesterday that it will close doors around the country and stand down 10,000 staff without pay from Sunday afternoon.

The iconic company says the measures will last at least four weeks, until April 27, in a statement to the ASX.

Online shopping will still be available, the company said, and it will reduce the threshold for free delivery to $49. The returns policy will also be relaxed.

10,000 staff will be stood down for four weeks without pay. Picture: AAP Image.

Staff will not be paid during the stand down period, but will have greater flexibility to access annual leave and staff entitlements.

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Executives and the board will also work without pay, but a small group of “business critical” roles will be retained and paid at 80 per cent of their normal wage, CEO John King said.

Mr King said his thoughts are with staff and it was one of the company's toughest decisions in 120 years of operation.

Myer CEO John King said it was one of the company's toughest decisions in 120 years. Picture: Stefan Postles.

“We will focus on ensuring we offer the best possible online experience for our customers, whist being ready to restart the business in four weeks.”

“Our focus must remain on operating our business in a manner that protects the health and wellbeing of customers and team members, whilst supporting the government, and the communities in which we operate, in limiting the spread of COVID-19.”

Given the sheer size of the company - and the fact that it exists as an anchor tenant in many shopping centres - the impact is likely to have a ripple effect across the retail and property sectors.

Myer will close across the country on Sunday. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

The grim announcement comes as dozens of big name stores have shut up shop as the coronavirus and new social distancing measures take a toll on the retail industry.

Today, outdoor chain Kathmandu became another major retail name to shut its doors in response to the sharp decline of business, standing down 2000 staff across its Australian and New Zealand operations without pay.

The company will also close 118 Rip Curl outlets which it acquired last year.

Retail Food Group — the owners of popular chains Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Brumby’s Bakeries, Donut King, and Michel’s Patisserie — said it will stand down or cut the hours of its workforce.

From Sunday, furniture retailer Adairs will temporarily close its 160 Australian stores and stand down its retail and customer support staff.

Elsewhere in the industry, on Thursday, Premier Investments Limited – which owns the Just Group, whose brands include Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Jacqui E and Dotti – announced it was closing all stores “until further notice”, with online shops also affected.

You can see the full list of retail companies impacted by coronavirus here.