In a company statement, the closure was attributed to the result of a strategic review, with MHI CEO Phil Taylor announcing it would have a “singular focus on the Michael Hill brand” going forth.
“Management resource and capital that would have been required to reposition the Emma & Roe brand will instead be directed to our core business, Michael Hill,” he stated.
“We will continue to take steps to remain at the forefront of industry innovation, customer service and product design, to maximise efficiencies and improve business processes.”
The announcement came on 21 June, just days after Michael Hill announced a restructuring of its leadership. General manager of Emma & Roe, Tishara Mina will oversee almost half of Michael Hill Australia’s stores, effective in July.
The company originally announced Mina would continue overseeing the remaining Emma & Roe stores while taking on co-managerial duties of Michael Hill Australia alongside its retail general manager Kevin Stock.
The original announcement did not allude to the forthcoming closure of Emma & Roe and stated, “The chain [Emma & Roe] is set to be dramatically reduced this month”.
Mina will head six of the company’s 13 regions to minimise Stock’s workload in order to “focus on the core Michael Hill business”, being its namesake franchise. The brand accounts for more than 300 stores and 95 per cent of the company’s group revenues and portfolio.
Emma & Roe experienced a 5.4 per cent decline in sales in nine months up until 31 March 2018. Michael Hill estimates lease terminations and employee severances will cost the company approximately $3.1 million.
Michael Hill is the company’s largest single division, with more than 170 stores in Australia.
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