Chinese Coat Maker Bosideng Pulls Out of U.K.

(Beijing) — Chinese apparel brand Bosideng has quietly pulled out of the U.K., closing its flagship store in London’s West End in mid-January without any public announcements.

The Hong Kong-listed coat maker had shuttered its online sales operation even earlier.

“Economic uncertainties” about Britain’s vote to exit the EU prompted the move, a statement by Bosideng International Holdings Ltd. said. But it has also closed 450 stores on the Chinese mainland last year as more consumers shift to shopping online.

The store, located in a six-story property in South Molton Street, was the company’s only overseas outlet. It will lease the building for revenue, the statement said.

The company, which sells down jackets and winter coats under brands such as Bosideng and Snow Flying, picked up the property at a bargain price in 2011, after London’s real estate market tanked in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

Bosideng’s franchise arrangements with fashion labels in Italy will continue, the company’s investor relation’s representative, Carol Mak, told Caixin.

The apparel maker operated nearly 10,000 stores on the Chinese mainland in 2011, but the total number of brick-and-mortar shops here had been trimmed to just over 5,800 by the end of September.

The cost-cutting has helped stabilize the company’s revenue at 2.6 billion yuan ($379 million) as of September, with a 0.1% increase from a year earlier, largely due to strong online sales.

A slowdown in offline sales has hit several Chinese retailers hard. Shanghai-based fast-fashion brand MetersBonwe Group, touted as the Chinese version of H&M or Zara, has closed at least 1,500 stores on the mainland starting in 2013.

Contact reporter Coco Feng (renkefeng@caixin.com)