Footwear retailer Office has reportedly been put up for sale by its owner Truworths International.

Sofie Willmott, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on this news;

“Despite its broad range of desirable casual trainer brands, Office has been outshone by both multichannel and online rivals in the form of JD Sports and ASOS, with range overlap the primary reason for the specialist’s difficulties. Although its inventory is less seasonal than its clothing counterparts’ and it has a better chance of selling through its stock once stores reopen, it is not a branded destination and is not top of mind for its target customer base.

“Clothing & footwear is forecast to be the hardest hit sector by the COVID-19 pandemic with UK spend expected to fall over 20% and footwear set to fare worse than clothing as consumers forgo purchasing new shoes.”