Tie Rack announces Closure of UK High Street Stores

Posted on 20 November, 2013 by Kirsten Kennedy

Tie Rack has become the latest retailer to announce the cessation of high street trading. The chain has now launched a closing down sale in order to shift stock before closing its 44 UK stores, with all trade in town and city centres due to finish by the end of the year.

Approximately 200 jobs will be lost in this move, which Tie Rack has deemed essential as the latest annual results show the business to be losing around £7 million per year. However some jobs will hopefully be saved, as Tie Rack bosses are currently in negotiations with airport operators with a view to keeping all airport-based outlets open.

A spokesman for the company said; “Following a period of prolonged decline in Tie Rack’s fortunes, it is with regret that we announce this closing down sale.

“Management are working with staff to provide support during this difficult time.”

It is believed that Tie Rack owners the Fingen Group are now looking to sell around 30 overseas stores and have taken on the services of accountancy firm Grant Thornton to achieve this goal. However, the Italian group will retain control of the online business as a means of continuing the brand name.

A Grant Thornton statement discussed the progress so far, saying; “We are in discussions with a number of interested parties but at this stage cannot comment further.

“We are not involved in any activity relating to the possible closure of any part of the group.”

Industry experts widely believe that the nail in Tie Rack’s coffin was its inability to keep up with consumer needs. While other similar retailers, such as Sock Shop, have modernised both their stores and their offering, Tie Rack has been accused of failing to update its image and thus being unable to attract a younger generation of consumer.

Retail Remedy consultant James McGregor states that, although the brand was immensely popular in the eighties and nineties, the turn of the millennium and resulting change in consumer trends and behaviours provided a greater challenge for Tie Rack.

He says; “Tie Rack is another brand with an eighties feel and in the current marketplace that can rapidly prove fatal – it’s another example of a retailer that has failed to move with the times.

“Not only does its brand feel outdated but its product offering is also stuck in the past.

“It’s a brand that younger people today simply don’t relate to.”

Do you think Tie Rack’s demise was largely due to an inability to meet modern consumer desires, or have consumers simply become uninterested in brands specialising in formal dress items – meaning if Tie Rack had branched out into other areas of fashion it could potentially have survived?




One response to “Tie Rack announces Closure of UK High Street Stores”

  1. It is believed that Tie Rack owners the Fingen Group are now looking to sell around 30 overseas stores and have taken on the services of accountancy firm Grant Thornton to achieve this goal.

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