Loss-making retailer Duty Free Shoppers Hong Kong (DFS) is to shut down two outlets after cutting 320 jobs, senior executive Shirley Wong Mo-shu said yesterday.
DFS, the Hong Kong division of US-based DFS Group, is being forced to close the stores after slipping into 'a much worse than expected loss' during the first quarter, she said.
Hit by the downturn in the retail industry and in visitor arrivals, DFS was attempting to reduce costs, laying off 220 staff on Tuesday after cutting 100 jobs in February, she said. This represented 18 per cent of 1,900 jobs.
The lay-offs follow cuts at retailers Joyce Boutique Holdings, Yaohan Hongkong Corp and Matsuzakaya, and take total redundancies so far to about 3,000.
In a letter circulating at the group's subsidiaries yesterday, DFS Group chairman Myron Ullman unveiled a worldwide business and management restructuring plan.
It confirmed the appointment as DFS president of Fred Chiu, formerly the Hong Kong Airport Authority's general manager for retail, and Philip Kung, formerly HMV's managing director, as vice-president retail stores and development.