205-year-old beauty retailer closes 31 stores, warns of more

A large quality retailer is pulling backmost connected its carnal enlargement aft years of increasing its store network. Weaker income and fierce terms contention are forcing the institution to reconsider however galore locations it needs.

The displacement comes arsenic online buying continues to reshape the quality retail marketplace and consumers stay highly delicate to prices. The retailer has already closed dozens of stores this fiscal year, and absorption says it volition proceed scrutinizing locations based connected profitability and lawsuit traffic.

Founded successful 1821, Douglas Group is simply a German-based planetary quality retailer that operates astir 1,970 stores crossed Europe, arsenic good arsenic respective e-commerce platforms, spanning aggregate brands, including Douglas, Nocibé, Parfumdreams, and Niche Beauty.

Douglas closes 31 stores

Douglas Group closed 31 stores successful the archetypal 9 months of fiscal 2026, importantly much than the 12 locations it shuttered during the aforesaid play a twelvemonth earlier.

The institution has been moderating the gait of its store enlargement portion shifting much concern toward e-commerce and technology. It is besides evaluating its existing store web based connected profitability and lawsuit traffic.

Douglas has not announced a circumstantial fig of further stores that volition close. However, CEO Sander van der Laan said the institution volition proceed reviewing locations arsenic it adjusts its carnal footprint to changing lawsuit behavior.

"We are making adjustments to align our concern adjacent much intimately with the improvement astatine some lawsuit and marketplace level, with an accrued absorption connected e-com and a stricter appraisal of the profitability of our store network, and that volition pb to a fig of conclusions and decisions," said van der Laan during the company's latest net call.

The institution said it volition proceed opening stores selectively, peculiarly successful Eastern Europe, portion modernizing locations successful Western Europe. But it expects the equilibrium betwixt carnal stores and e-commerce to displacement further arsenic customers progressively store online.

Why Douglas is closing locations

Douglas' store strategy comes aft a play of important enlargement arsenic the quality retailer faces a much challenging situation successful immoderate of its largest markets.

Germany, France, and the Netherlands relationship for astir 60% of Douglas' business, but the institution said user request for premium quality was little twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth successful Germany and the Netherlands and level successful France during the latest quarter. Meanwhile, Central Eastern Europe continued to execute much strongly.