First Quench Retailing – owner of Threshers, Wine Rack and The Local – has confirmed it is in negotiations with landlords to sell off unprofitable stores.

The retailer said today: “The number of stores that could close is dependent upon capacity to reach suitable agreements with these landlords.”

Yesterday, it emerged that First Quench Retailing could sell off as many as 400 shops as it seeks to protect itself from the downturn.

First Quench Retailing said in March last year that it would restructure its portfolio. It has since shed some loss-making stores “in order to improve company performance and focus on the profitable majority during these recessionary times”.

The retailer has also remodelled 276 Wine Rack stores and converted a further 23 stores from Threshers to The Local format. It opened eight new stores in the last half of 2008.

First Quench Retailing has a portfolio of around 1,500 stores.

Threshers considers 'hundreds' of store closures

Topics