Peter Alexander to close UK stores
Premier Investments, the owner of Australian sleepwear brand Peter Alexander, has announced plans to close the brand’s UK stores as it scales back its presence in the market.
The stores at Bluewater, Westfield Stratford and Westfield London will all be shut down, although Peter Alexander will continue to serve UK customers through its online channel.
Subscribe to TRBPremier cited sustained difficult trading conditions and the continued negative outlook for the UK economy as factors behind the decision. The company is currently exploring international wholesale opportunities for the brand with global wholesale partners.
Premier charman Solomon Law said: “Our entry to the UK market was phased to allow us to test market response. Premier has strict store profitability and return hurdles and we allocate capital prudently on behalf of our shareholders.
“We have decided to channel our growth capital for Peter Alexander into our Australia and New Zealand markets, online and potentially capital-light wholesale which we continue to explore with global partners.”
Premier, which also owns stationery brand Smiggle, said Premier Retail’s unaudited sales for the year to 25 July declined by 2% to A$795.5 million.
In March, the company gave full year underlying EBIT guidance for the period of around $183 million, but now expects this to be approximately A$176 million.
It said Smiggle’s strategic reset to restore brand growth remains on track, with the launch of its Smiggle Club loyalty programme in late July marking a key milestone.
Law said: “Significant progress has been made on Smiggle’s strategic reset over the past few months. Smiggle will continue its presence in the UK given the Smiggle brand is already well established. We look forward to providing a further update on Smiggle’s strategic reset with our FY26 results in September.”
