64-year-old luxury giant closes at least 217 stores, plans more

"Luxury goods are the lone country successful which it is imaginable to marque luxury margins," said Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury radical down powerhouses specified arsenic Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy.

Arnault whitethorn beryllium close astir margins, but precocious manner isn't inflation-proof. Even LVMH saw gross gaffe 5% successful 2025 and different 3% successful aboriginal 2026, portion retail elephantine Saks Global was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Now, the challenges person deed Kering. The French luxury elephantine down Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga closed 84 stores successful the archetypal fractional of 2026, and is readying more. 

Kering closes astatine slightest 217 stores successful 18 months

"Despite being the world's second-largest luxury group, with gross of €14.7 cardinal ($17.38 billion) successful 2025, Kering has faced mounting unit successful caller years. Leadership changes, shifting user preferences, and broader manufacture headwinds person challenged its performance," according to TheStreet retail newsman Fernanda Tronco. 

In 2025, the luxury elephantine opened 58 caller stores, but closed different 133, resulting successful nett 75 closures for the year, said Kering CFO Armelle Poulou during the Q4 2025 net call. 

"Our store web is being assessed constantly, and we person accelerated its rationalization by closing stores that nary longer enactment our ambition to fortify income density," Poulou added. 

On July 28, 2026, Kering reported net and operational results for the archetypal fractional of 2026, revealing much closures. 

During the archetypal six months of 2026, Kering finalized 84 nett closures, reducing its full store number to 1,635, down from the 1,719 it had connected Dec. 31, 2025. 

The luxury radical didn't disclose gross closing numbers oregon caller store openings for the archetypal six months of the year, lone nett closures. Based connected this, it is evident that implicit the past 18 months, Kering closed astatine slightest 217 stores. 

These closures were offset with openings, resulting successful nett closures of 159 for the period.

The institution highlighted that the 84 nett closures successful the archetypal fractional of the twelvemonth resulted successful a simplification of 5% of its straight operated stores arsenic of Dec. 31, 2025, and are portion of the 100 targeted closures for the 2026 afloat year. 

First fractional of 2026 Kering nett store closures: 

• Western Europe: 13

• North America: 20

• Japan: 16

• Asia-Pacific: 31

• Rest of the world: 8 
  Source: Kering 

The four-store spread betwixt the determination full (88) and the group-level fig (84) reflects the quality betwixt the Fashion & Leather Goods conception and Kering's wide Group Level total.