Daimaru stores to close with loss of 400 jobs

Four hundred jobs will be lost when Daimaru's two department stores in Causeway Bay close on December 31.

Staff learned of the closures and the lay-offs, which will begin in October, by letter yesterday morning. Daimaru blamed global restructuring and serious debts caused by 'severe competition and recession'.

Established in 1960, Daimaru is the oldest Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. Two other Japanese stores, Yaohan and Matsuzakaya, have closed in the past year.

'It is very regrettable that we were not capable of making any fundamental breakthrough to allow for brighter future prospects,' Daimaru said in a statement.

The company said it would compensate the affected staff according to labour laws, with ex-gratia payments. More than half the 400 workers are sales assistants and cashiers. The rest are office and warehouse staff.

Some 4,000 retail industry employees have lost their jobs since the Yaohan collapse last year. Retail sales in April sank 16 per cent by volume compared with the same period last year.