French ready-to-wear brand Promod, currently located in 44 countries with 997 boutiques and 10 e-commerce sites, will eliminate 133 jobs between now and 2017 in the North, where its head office is located, the brand announced on Thursday in a news release. 

Promod will launch a “transformation plan project” to “meet the challenges of a difficult international market” and “face increased competition” which will happen through “the elimination of 133 jobs at the head office and logistics depot.”
 
The business which employees 6 000 employees worldwide, assures that it is putting “in place a voluntary leave plan” and is committed “to facilitating the reclassification internally or externally.”

The company also wants “to concentrate on profitable outlets by closing approximately 180 unprofitable stores abroad”.
 
These international closures “does not call into question the brand’s ambitions to grow internationally,” but rather aims “to redeploy the business on a sound and profitable trajectory,” assured the company in a news release.
 
In parallel, the company also hopes “to continue to develop its network of stores in France,” where the brand is well known, “with 15 to 20 store openings per year.”