Businesses in Singapore and Malaysia will go on “as usual” even after Muji US operations filed for bankruptcy protection on 10 July.
A spokeswoman for Muji Singapore said that local operations were helped by the Government’s COVID-19 relief budget packages, even though US businesses suffered “continuous losses” due to factors such as high rents that caused a “bottleneck in terms of profitability”.
Four such budget packages, amounting to S$93 billion, were created to support businesses, workers and the economy.
“We are able to receive rental rebates that could relieve some of our heavier costs temporarily,” the spokeswoman said.
“We would like to assure all of our corporate and media partners that the business operations in Muji Singapore and Muji Malaysia will be as usual,” the spokesperson added.
Muji is a Japanese minimalist lifestyle chain with 10 outlets in Singapore.
Japanese owner Ryohin Keikaku had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which “generally (allows) businesses to propose a plan of reorganization to keep its business alive and pay creditors over time”.
Since Mid-March, the US arm has closed 18 stores due to the pandemic. After the filing, Mr Keikaku plans to close unprofitable stores and renegotiate rents in the US.
Muji’s filing comes in the wake of J Crew and Brooks Brothers which have earlier filed for Chapter 11 as well.
