Future of Etam fashion firm in doubt

AS department stores group Allders teeters on the brink of collapse, uncertainty surrounds the future of another well-known High Street name, the Etam fashion chain.

The retailer has just over 200 shops in Britain, but has been loss-making for years as it struggled against fierce competition from rivals such as Philip Green's Top Shop, discount chain New Look and George at Asda.

Now its French owner, Etam Developpement, has finally lost patience with the UK arm and called in advisers 'to review various options'.

These could include a sale of the business, although industry observers said there is likely to be only limited interest in the Etam brand.

No figure is given for the UK losses but sales here dropped by 3.6% like-for-like in the final quarter to 31 December. For the year as a whole, total UK sales slumped 9.5% to €252m (£174m), or more than 7% like-for-like.

Despite new management, there have been no signs of a turnround to date, and the UK losses, which reached almost €20m in the six months to June, will push its French parent into the red for 2004.

Etam was founded in Germany in 1916 by a German hoisery manufacturer, Max Lindemann, who went on to set up operations in Britain and elsewhere in the world.

The UK business was quoted on the London Stock Echange in the 1980s, but in 1997 was taken over by the French group.