Belgium’s e5 mode clothing firm announced on Friday that it will close its 12 stores in Wallonia between April 2020 and 2021, based on their respective leases.
“This presence is not enough to be profitable,” the company stressed in a press release announcing the closures. The move will affect 41 permanent employees.
The company’s new CEO, Frédéric Helderweirt, is now banking on online sales and new technology. He said the e5mode brand, which targets a clientele around the age of 40, is popular only in Flanders.
The firm’s stores in Wallonia are in Anderlues, Arlon, Ath, Boncelles, Braine-l'Alleud, Champion, Gerpinnes, Huy, Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Tournai, Verviers and Wavre. They will all close their doors, starting with those in Boncelles and Verviers, followed by Ath, Braine-l'Alleud, Tournai and Jemeppe-sur-Sambre. The last store should be open until 2021.
The firm currently employs 400 workers in about 70 stores.
The Brussels Times
