Jean-Philippe Blasco takes charge of operations at New Look France

British fast-fashion retailer New Look, navigating through choppy waters both at home and overseas, appointed Jean-Philippe Blasco as the director of operations of its French subsidiary at the end of December. Blasco’s mission is to head New Look’s retail chain in France, and take charge of marketing operations for the brand in the country.

Blasco has a 20-year experience in the retail business. He was in charge of retail at the Kidiliz group since 2017, having previously headed retail projects at Kurt Salmon, between 2003 and 2006, before taking charge of the Vet’Affaires ready-to-wear discount chain for ten years, until the company went into liquidation.

At New Look France, Blasco will be in charge of a chain for which, last autumn, the parent company announced the intention of closing down twenty out of a total of 32 stores, via an employee protection plan, before giving up on it. New Look also needs to make a thorough assessment of the chain’s French situation, to decide on further rationalisation measures. This strategy is overseen by Paul-Henri Cécillon, who came to New Look France’s rescue last November, and heads corporate turnaround specialist Phinancia.

New Look’s Belgian subsidiary went into administration last month, as the British group faces a huge amount of debt which it is in the process of renegotiating. The Guardian newspaper recently revealed that the sale of New Look, currently owned by the Brait investment fund, is also being evaluated. In the first nine months of the 2018-19 financial year, the budget fashion chain, which operates nearly 600 stores worldwide, lost 5% in sales, which fell to £1.016 billion (€1.16 billion).

Jean-Philippe Blasco takes charge of operations at New Look France

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