Malin + Goetz to shut all UK stores as it collapses into administration

The brand has seven stores across London in locations including Islington, Seven Dials, Spitalfields, Canary Wharf, Battersea, Borough, Soho, and one pop-up in Victoria.

All staff, which is understood to be over 70 in total, will be made redundant with immediate effect.

Malin + Goetz appointed Alvarez & Marsal as administrators today (January 20), after working with the firm to stabilise operations and explore strategic options.

Following an extensive review, it was decided that the administration of the UK business is necessary, but that it will continue to serve customers through its ecommerce platform and through third-party retail partners such as Space NK, Liberty and John Lewis.

It is understood that trading conditions did not improve enough to support overhead costs and the operation of the UK store estate.

Its website will continue to operate as normal, but a brief period of maintenance is currently underway. Technical operations will now be managed from the US.

All employees impacted have been informed and the brand will meet its payroll obligations for the month, while shareholders and parent company Manzanita Capital will voluntarily fund payment in lieu of contractual notice periods, subject to coordination with Alvarez & Marsal.

Malin + Goetz has partnered with London-based distributor Discovered Brands to enhance the group’s presence with third-party retailers to bring future improvements to the UK business.

In a statement sent to Retail Week, a Malin+Goetz spokesperson said: “Following an extensive review of the business and after exhausting all viable alternatives, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to put our UK business into administration, resulting in the closure of all UK stores that we operate and our head office. 

“We recognise the impact this will have on our colleagues and customers, and the loss of jobs is deeply regrettable, but unavoidable under the circumstances.

“Our ecommerce platform will continue to operate as normal for UK consumers, albeit with a short maintenance period to allow for the transition of the technical operations to our US teams, and customers will continue to be able to purchase our products from third-party retailers in the UK, who will be supported by a new partnership with the distributor Discovered Brands.  

“This structural change will allow the business to focus on our ecommerce and third-party retail channels where our customers increasingly choose to shop, while enabling us to operate more efficiently and better serve customers in the long term.”

Alvarez & Marsal joint administrator and managing director Paul Berkovi added: “Despite significant efforts to improve the performance of the UK business and exploring all options to keep the UK store estate in operation, it is unfortunately no longer a commercially viable channel for the company.

“As administrators, our priority is to support all affected employees through the redundancy process, while working with the wider group on the smooth transition to ecommerce and trading via third-party retail partners.”