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United States clothing line Esprit will be closing 56 outlets in Asia outside of China.

Specifically, the affected countries are:

• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Taiwan
• Hong Kong
• Macau

16 outlets in S'pore

According to Esprit's Facebook page, there are 16 outlets in Singapore.

In a business update published on April 27, Esprit said that the closure of stores is part of its restructuring initiatives to focus resources and recalibrate operations in order to cope with the challenges posed by the worldwide Covid-19 outbreak.

It also mentioned that the 56 stores have contributed HK$267 million (S$48.9 million), which makes up less than 4 per cent of the group's total revenue for the nine months ended Mar. 31, 2020.

Severance payment for staff

The closure of stores will also result in one-off costs for store closures, impairment of assets and inventories and for staff severance payments.

The total cost will be in the range of HK$150 million to HK$200 million (S$27.4 million to S$36.6 million).

While Esprit stores in Singapore are temporarily closed due to the circuit breaker period, it is not known when the stores will be officially closed for business.

Top image via Google Maps.