Ten New Zealand Marcs and David Lawrence stores to close

The New Zealand operations of collapsed retail chains Marcs and David Lawrence will close over the next two months.

Administrators Rodgers Reidy announced today that 10 stores will close, affecting 44 jobs at stores in Auckland and Wellington.

Read more: Three takeaways from the collapse of David Lawrence and Marcs

“Both brands have been operating in New Zealand for more than ten years. As administrators, we have an obligation to restructure the operations of the Australian and New Zealand businesses while we attempt to sell the business as a going concern,” administrator Andrew Barnden said in a statement.

“Whilst the stores are permanently closing, New Zealanders will have a great opportunity to purchase quality apparel at discounted prices. We hope loyal customers take advantage of this final opportunity to buy great product from these iconic brands.”

Stock from both brands will be discounted from today in New Zealand, with store credits and gift cards purchased before March 31 will be honoured.

The brands’ Australian stores will continue to trade and administrators have said no final decision has been made about the Australian arm of the business.

“Whilst the New Zealand stores of Marcs and David Lawrence are closing permanently, we are dealing with interested parties with respect to the sale of the Australian businesses and are continuing to trade 177 Marcs and David Lawrence stores,” Barnden says.

The companies that operate the Marcs and David Lawrence labels, M. Webster Holdings Pty Ltd and Webster Asset Pty Ltd, were placed into voluntary administration on February 1.

At the time the brands had 52 standalone stores across Australia and New Zealand, along with 11 outlet stores and 140 concessions contained within larger department stores.

Administrators said on February 16 nine David Lawrence and four Marcs stores would shut as administrators worked to make the businesses as attractive as possible to a potential buyer.

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