When fashion chain H&M announced the closure of their Torrevieja store, located in the Habaneras Shopping Centre, some of the staff were given the opportunity to relocate to other local outlets, but those who were lucky enough to gain a stay on redundancy are now facing the drama once again, as the Swedish chain announced the closure of their Orihuela and Elche stores.
In March of this year, details were given of the decision by the Swedish retail chain H&M to cut the number of stores and jobs that the multinational has in Spain for “organisational, productive and economic” reasons. At that time, some 588 collective layoffs and the closure of 28 brands were announced. In a second modification, the figure dropped to 521 layoffs. The consequences for the province of Alicante were the farewell to establishments in the shopping centres of L’Aljub in Elche, Ociopía in Orihuela and Habaneras in Torrevieja, which were going to result in some 50 layoffs.
The Torrevieja store has already closed its doors, the unit being taken over by home-grown fashion store Bershka, part of the Inditex group. Now, Orihuela will be shuttered on 14 September, and the closing date in Elche has not yet been announced.
According to the Secretary General of the CCOO Services Federation in Alicante, Patricia Carrillo Sevilla, the month of September is when the ERE can be made official. Unions and companies are in a negotiation table that the multinational announced on time – with a margin of more than six months before making the cutback measures effective. These meetings will begin on September 17.
The H&M group, which has nearly 4,000 employees in the country and more than a hundred stores, has decided to “adapt and improve” its stores in a “changing” shopping environment for its customers. In addition, the data that the company made public months ago when it presented its 2023 financial year showed that Spain would account for 17% of the brand’s closures worldwide.
At the moment, the Zenia Boulevard store does not appear to be in the firing line.
