Monsoon Accessorize to close 141 joint stores over next five years

High street chain Monsoon Accessorize will close 141 joint branded stores over the next five years as leases expire and will look to open separate branded stores in areas that currently have joint outlets.

According to a source quoted in The Guardian the company believes the cross-over in customers for the two brands is "lower than you would think" with womenswear and kidswear brand Monsoon attracting an older customer to Accessorize, which mostly sells jewellery and other accessories.

The restructuring is a reversal of the plan put in place to expand joint branded stores by previous CEO John Browett. Browett, formerly of Dixons and Apple and now at homeware group Dunelm, left the business at the end of last year. He has been replaced by Paul Allen, formerly of Jacques Vert, who will implement the new strategy.

Monsoon Accessorize is owned by entrepreneur Peter Simon who began with a store on Portobello Road in the 1970s. Accessorize first appeared on the high street in 1984.