Charlotte Olympia to close US stores after Chapter 11 filing

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 22, 2018

British shoe and accessories designer label Charlotte Olympia is closing its US stores following a Chapter 11 filing at the weekend by the companies that operate the business there.

Pinktoe Tarantula Ltd and its affiliates Desert Blonde Tarantula Ltd and Red Pump Tarantula Ltd filed a Chapter 11 petition in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. 

Chief restructuring officer William Kaye said Charlotte Olympia’s US stores had been unprofitable for some time with the four stores (in Beverly Hills, Orange County, Las Vegas and upper Manhattan) set to close and their inventory to be liquidated. A Florida store was shut down last year. 

Footwear News reported Kaye saying the physical stores retail environment “has been experiencing, and continues to experience, unprecedented disruption due to a confluence of factors, including the proliferation of online retailers, changing consumer tastes and demographics, and increased competition.” 

In the Chapter 11 filing he added: “Despite selling the iconic Charlotte Olympia brand and taking steps to reduce their expenditures, the debtors’ operations are not profitable due to the widespread disruption in the retail industry.”

It appears that the brand’s operations outside of the US are unaffected by the filing but we can’t confirm that as Charlotte Olympia hasn’t responded to our request for a comment.

The brand was founded in 2007 by Charlotte Olympia Dellal and also runs stores in the UK, Dubai, Thailand and Russia. The label is also stocked by some of the world’s premier multibrand retailers including MyTheresa, Net-a-Porter, Saks and Bloomingdale’s.