Hallenstein Glasson and its 14 retail stores in Christchurch have emerged "relatively unscathed" from the city's February 22 earthquake, the company has revealed.
The company, which operates menswear chain Hallensteins, womenswear chain Glassons and mid-market chain Storm, reported that seven of its 14 stores in Christchurch had reopened as of today (March 9).
“Stores in South City are expected to open shortly, and stores at The Palms shopping centre remain closed and a reopening date is not available at this stage,” the company said.
“All chains had one store each in the CBD, and the status of those stores remains uncertain. Current advice is that it will be some months before they can reopen, but because a full damage assessment has yet to be made this advice is preliminary only.”
Hallenstein Glasson revealed its distribution centre in Christchurch was operational 24 hours after the quake struck, ensuring the flow of stock to its 117 stores across Australia and New Zealand had not been affected.
The company confirmed it was insured for comprehensive loss of profits and material damage and thus expects the short term impact on its financial results will be “insignificant”.
“In the longer term it is more difficult to gauge the impact the earthquake will have on sales in the Christchurch region,” the company said.
In a brief update on trade, Hallenstein Glasson reported sales in the second half of the financial year continued to be “challenging”, though trade had improved in Australia.
Hallenstein Glasson is a publicly listed company headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The company currently operates 25 stores in Australia under the Glassons banner.