Popular denim specialist Republic has joined the league of other British high-street fashion chains to buckle into administration post-Christmas.
The Leeds-based youth fashion chain, which owns nearly 121 stores nationwide, has appointed business services firm Ernst & Young as its administrator.
The retailer has been experiencing poor trading results since the beginning of autumn, though the business picked up a bit during Christmas and New Year eves, but in late January the sales dipped again, which confirmed the final plunge.
Out of 2,500 employees, over 150 staff at the chain’s Leeds head office has already been made redundant by the administrators who are now trying to sell the company’s 121 stores, which will continue to stay operational.
Launched in 1998, the men’s and women’s clothing specialist had been on an expansion spree, opening between five and ten stores a year, for the past one decade.