Private equity-backed First Quench, which owns the Threshers, The Local, Wine Rack and Haddows in Scotland fascias, confirmed it is considering axing stores.
As many as 400 of the retailer’s 1,500 stores could close and thousands of its 12,000-strong workforce face an uncertain future, according to The Daily Mail.
100 stores have already closed over the past six months. Like many retailers, it is negotiating with landlords to pay rent on a monthly rather than quarterly basis.
A spokesman told the newspaper: "Christmas trading has been reasonably good. But property is our biggest cost and we are looking at shutting stores, but it is too early to say how many.”
He suggested the figure would be in the hundreds.
A source said: “Some staff have been given two days' notice and we have been told 400 stores are closing down."
Underlying sales at the off-licence group fell 3.5 per cent over Christmas as shoppers increasingly favour supermarkets for their alcohol purchases.
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