River Island is a mainstream high fashion retailer that is part of the family-owned Lewis Trust Group. It operates around 260 high street stores throughout the UK and sells online through Riverisland.com, as well as sites such as Asos, Next and Very. It sells a wide range of clothing, footwear and accessories for young men, women and children. River Island has focused on expanding its product offer over the years, including kidswear launched in 2010, a homewares collection in 2018, and a brand aimed at the older female customer named Harpenne. River Island has also made a name for itself with its vintage-inspired Chelsea Girl range and collaboration with singer Rihanna. The retailer has been investing heavily in technology and innovation, setting up a ‘collaboration hub’ in London’s Shoreditch, focusing on areas such as AI and machine learning in the supply chain, and personalisation in ecommerce. It has also made a move to create superstores capable of holding its entire product offer.
Fashion retailer River Island is set to slash 350 jobs across its store estate as it battles to survive the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
River Island is the latest fashion retailer to consider undertaking a company voluntary arrangement due to the effects of the coronavirus on sales and store footfall.
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, customer needs and behaviours have shifted rapidly in just a few months.
River Island is axing 250 head office roles in a bid to reduce costs following the fall in sales triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequently reduced footfall.
River Island says it will close down its UK warehouse by the end of this week in a bid to “protect the health of our employees”.
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