Sosandar has confirmed its first UK store locations as it reveals the business swung to a loss in its last financial year.
The fashion retailer, which is in the process of shifting to a multichannel model, said it will open its first shops in Chelmsford, Essex, and Marlow in Buckinghamshire this September.
It comes as the retailer reported it had swung to a loss of £0.3m for the year to 31 March, from a profit of £1.59m the year before, as a boost in profit during its second half to £1m failed to offset the £1.3m loss seen in the first half.
Sales for the period increased 9% to £46.3m, boosted by new partnerships with third-party partners in the UK and abroad.
Sosandar said its first quarter results for the current year were “highly encouraging” and reflected its prioritisation of margins with reduced discounting ahead of planned store launches.
Despite posting a 28% drop in sales to £8.2m, its pre-tax losses narrowed from £0.8m to £0.2m.
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The company said it expects the rollout of its first standalone stores and “the compounding positive effect that the shops will have across all of our channels” will help boost sales in the years ahead.
Sosandar co-CEOs Ali Hall and Julie Lavington said: “The transition to becoming a true multi-channel retailer, with our products being sold on our own site, our mobile app, through our own stores and via highly reputable third-party partners, is well underway.
“To meet our strategic goal of delivering a pre-tax profit margin of at least 10% in the medium term and £100m+ revenues, we have refined our focus and built a roadmap that will shape our decision making over the coming years.”
They continued: “The core ingredients to this include prioritising margin and sustainable profitable growth rather than revenue growth through promotional activity.
“In doing so, we will leverage our brand equity, creating our own marketing ecosystem through our stores which will enable us to own our customers directly.”
The retail bosses added that they were excited to announce the first locations of Sosandar stores opening later this year.
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