Shoe Zone sales shrink as store closures hit bottom line

Sales are expected to be around £158m for the 52 weeks to September 30, down from £159.8m in 2016, according to a pre-close update.

The footwear retailer attributed this fall to its “continued planned closure of loss-making stores” and hailed the performance of its new big box stores and online expansion.

Shoe Zone added that despite foreign exchange headwinds it expected its full-year profits to be “broadly” in line with expectations.

The retailer opened 21 stores and closed 35 during the year, leaving it with 496 in total. Of the 21 openings, six were big-box stores. It plans to add another 10 big-box stores during the next financial year.

Chief executive Nick Davies said: “The group has performed well through the year and I am particularly pleased with the six big-box stores that we have opened. These have performed in line with initial expectations and the feedback from customers has been extremely positive.”