Reitmans Canada to shutter Addition Elle, Thyme Maternity brands

(Reuters) - Clothing retailer Reitmans Canada Ltd <RETa.TO> said on Monday it would permanently shutdown its Thyme Maternity and Addition Elle brands and slash its work force by about 1,400 employees as part of a restructuring plan.

Last month, the company said that it had obtained preliminary approval to seek bankruptcy protection in order to restructure its operations as the COVID-19 pandemic causes prolonged store closures.

Reitmans, which retails fashion apparel through 576 stores across Canada and online, said it would open all its physical stores in the coming days and weeks, in accordance with government guidelines.

The retailer said all of its 77 Addition Elle and 54 Thyme Maternity stores will also be open with an objective of liquidating inventory and permanently closing the brands over the course of summer.

Its workforce reduction would include about 1,100 retail employees and about 300 employees at its Montreal head office, the company said. Reitmans had about 6,800 employees in total.

Other retailers such as U.S.-based J.C. Penney Co Inc, luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus Group and clothing retailer J. Crew Group Inc, have also filed for bankruptcy in the past few weeks.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)