NZ clothing retail chain Bing, Harris and Co closing down

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New Zealand clothing retail chain Bing, Harris and Co is closing down after 157 years in business.

Chief executive and majority shareholder Mike Beagley, who is also the managing director of retail clothing business Rodd and Gunn, said the decision was made to focus elsewhere.

"We have decided to close Bing Harris to focus on the expansion of Rodd and Gunn into the US, which requires a huge amount of time and capital," Beagley said. "Our push into the US is incredibly exciting and we are getting real traction."

Accent Group which stocks brands such as Vans, Skechers and Dr.Martens, is rumoured to be taking over the lease of the five remaining Bing Harris stores in New Zealand as well as several in Australia, with the takeover expected to be completed by March.

The company, which was founded in Dunedin in 1858, had grown to stores across New Zealand as well as 16 stores in Australia, however there were signs the business was struggling with issues such as the high New Zealand dollar impacting on sales after it closed its High Street store in Auckland last year.

In 2012, the business relaunched, moving from its history of warehousing and manufacturing to menswear in the mid market, adding in womenswear in 2013. Beagley said the company had been tracking well, but that the decision had been made to focus on Rodd and Gunn.

"Bing Harris was starting to show good promise but I was approached by a company to take over our leases, which forced us to make a decision on where our energies are best served. The US market opportunity made it a straight forward decision," he said.

Rodd and Gunn was founded in 1946, and expanded into Australia 20 years ago where it now has around 60 stores, accounting for 70 per cent of its $80 million annual turnover.

The company set up a flagship store on Madison Ave in New York last month.