NEW YORK — Miss Sixty is closing 10 of its remaining 20 stores in the U.S.
The Chieti, Italy-based company suffered a series of financial setbacks during the height of the recession, entering administration, a British bankruptcy process, in the U.K. Miss Sixty in 2008 lost 19.5 million euros, or $28.6 million, compared with a profit of 9.6 million euros, or $13.1 million, in 2007.
Last year, Miss Sixty closed two full-priced stores in Honolulu and Dallas. At the time, Miss Sixty SpA founder, chairman and creative director Wichy Hassan said the company’s U.S. stores were simply not working, in part due to mismanagement. Miss Sixty, which was a regular at New York Fashion Week for seven seasons, staged its last runway show in spring 2008.
A Miss Sixty unit on Union Square in San Francisco closed last week, as did a 7,000-square-foot flagship at 901 Broadway in the Flatiron Building here. That store housed dual brands Miss Sixty and its men’s counterpart, Energie. On Sunday, Miss Sixty will shutter a store at 386 West Broadway in SoHo, according to a New York employee. Other closings include units at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and Georgetown in Washington, and an outlet store in Philadelphia.
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A 13,000-square-foot, $50,000-a-month space at 8070 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, shared by Miss Sixty and Energie, will close on May 3, a store employee said. “The company is definitely not going out of business,” she added. “We’ll probably be back in six months and will open in the Beverly Center or on Robertson Boulevard.” Merchandise from the Melrose Avenue unit is being transferred to Miss Sixty stores at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., she said.
An outlet unit at Woodbury Commons in Central Valley, N.Y., will remain open, as will stores at the Houston Galleria, Aventura Mall in Aventura, Fla., and Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. The New York store employee said Miss Sixty is revamping its real estate portfolio and eventually hopes to relocate all the stores it closed.
Faltering performance led the company to reassess its business in several global markets. In September, Miss Sixty announced it was outsourcing management of Miss Sixty and Energie stores in the U.S. to Canadian retailer Aldo Group.
Deanna Chow, director of marketing and public relations for Sixty Canada, did not return phone calls seeking comment.