Major Scottish convenience store chain Scotmid Cooperative is to shed 90 jobs after announcing the closure of more than a dozen loss-making Semichem and Fragrance House stores.
Seven Semichem outlets including shops in Dunfermline and at Dundee’s Wellgate Centre are set to disappear under the move, while there will be further local job losses as Fragrance House stores in Dundee and Falkirk also shut their doors.
John Brodie, chief executive of Edinburgh-based Scotmid, blamed the situation on the difficult retail environment and said the decision to close the stores was “difficult but necessary”.
Mr Brodie said there had been a positive outcome to rental negotiations regarding a number of unprofitable stores, but it had not been possible to implement similar money-saving measures at all its loss-making stores.
A total of 13 stores are set to close under the restructure, including the entire Fragrance House estate.
Scotmid said the perfume retailer, launched as a trial four years ago, would disappear from high streets in the coming months but the brand would maintain an online presence.
Fragrance House stores which are subject to longer-term leases will be converted to become Semichem clearance stores.
“Companies across the UK have been facing some of the most challenging times in a generation, with some organisations putting unprofitable parts of their business into administration,” Mr Brodie said yesterday.
“In contrast, Scotmid has fought to keep a number of unprofitable Semichem stores open by negotiating more favourable lease deals with landlords,” he said.
“This year will see a significant proportion of the Semichem estate with lease breaks, and this gives us a number of options in deciding the future of certain stores.
“If landlords can help with more favourable lease deals then stores which are currently unprofitable can be kept open.”
The Scotmid Co-operative employs around 5,000 staff across a business covering Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
The mutual retailer said staff had been informed of the closure decision and attempts were being made to see if suitable jobs could be found elsewhere in the business for those threatened with redundancy.
Mr Brodie said the wider Scotmid remained a “financially strong co-operative business” and would continue to operate as normal whilst the store closures were implemented.
“Whilst we are a co-operative, we are also a commercial organisation, which at times has to make difficult but necessary decisions,” he said.
“By acting now, we can protect the majority of our workforce, whilst still looking at future opportunities to grow.
“All staff have been informed and discussions are currently under way to determine if there are opportunities for employees within other areas of our business who have been impacted by these decisions.”