The women's clothing chain Max Fashions is to shut 17 stores, with a number of staff facing redundancy.
Shoppers on Queen St, Auckland. Photo: 123RF
The fashion firm would not confirm how many jobs would be lost, but said the decision was devastating.
Managing director James Whiting said it had asked landlords for a formal creditor's compromise, in order to keep its remaining stores open.
"We appreciate this is a difficult situation for all parties involved and one which we have never encountered before - however with the support of the landlords we can get through this together and rebuild our businesses."
"We are absolutely devastated but this decision had to be made to ensure the survival of our business. We are a very close-knit team and to say we are proud of how our people have conducted themselves through these challenging times would be an understatement."
He said not being able to trade for seven weeks had taken a considerable toll on business, and forecast trading did not look promising.
"We forecast trading to be impacted for some time to come, as a result of the wider economic crisis, reduced consumer confidence and spending, lower foot traffic and disruption of supply chains.
"As such we have no other choice than to reshape the business to be able to operate in this new environment. We have taken significant measures to reduce our costs in order to survive this crisis, including the senior management taking a permanent 30 percent pay cut."
Twenty-five stores would remain open under the proposal.