The Crossroads store closed in late January, but Shepparton Marketplace centre management confirmed it would reopen as a Rivers store.
Both Crossroads and Rivers are owned by the same Mosaic Brands fashion group, whose brands also include Millers, Rockmans, Noni B, Autograph, W. Lane and Beme.
When questioned about the Crossroads Shepparton closure a Mosaic Brands spokesperson said, “for commercial-in-confidence reasons we can’t comment on any individual store closures, but we are very conscious of the impact all closures have on our team and the communities they serve”.
“Where stores are closed our brands will continue to serve their customers online,” the spokesperson said.
“The group is on the record in its annual report with a strategy to rebalance its portfolio of stores across Australia to reflect the changing demands of our customers, nature of bricks and mortar and online retail, which has accelerated due to COVID-19.”
That includes where Mosaic will place its different branded stores and where it will close stores.
At the Mosaic Brands annual general meeting at the end of October last year, chairman Richard Facioni said 500 of its more than 1300 stores would close if realistic rental agreements were not struck.
By October last year, 73 stores had already closed and Mosaic Brands managing director Scott Evans said at that time that the company expected to close 250 more stores nationally by the end of the financial year.