MELBOURNE: Pyjama king Peter Alexander will welcome shoppers to his Melbourne Central store tonight (March 20), just days after his parent company confirmed speculation his American operations faced the chopping block.
Alexander will join fashion designers Arthur Galan, Dom Bagnato and Monica Lim for a promotion aimed at attracting shoppers to the shopping centre on Friday evenings. Alexander's Melbourne Central store is part of a network of 30 retail sites across Australia and New Zealand.
As reported on Ragtrader Online on Tuesday (March 17), Alexander's American arm had little to celebrate this week. Parent company Premier Investments said it planned to "downsize" the designer's offshore operations in the face of worsening retail conditions. Alexander's sleepwear and apparel offerings launched into the American market just last year with three stores across California, including a flagship site on Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Peter Alexander San Jose site closed last week after executives said it "just walked into a storm in the US".
According to Premier's 2009 interim results, the brand's American arm generated just $A1.046 million in sales for the half year ended January 24.