Kit and Ace Shuttering International Stores

Kit and Ace (Vancouver) announced that it is closing 32 stores outside Canada and is laying off corporate staff, including its president, Wendy Bennison. The company will focus its efforts on its nine Canadian stores and its online business, reports Business in Vancouver.

The company’s brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S., U.K. and Australia will close, though details of when that will take place were not available. The company also has not disclosed how many employees will be laid off.

With Bennison gone, the company is being guided by Chip Wilson, who is founder and principal of Hold It All Inc. (Vancouver), which owns Kit and Ace.

“We recognize the traditional world of bricks and mortar retailing is changing, which is why we’re shifting strategies,” Wilson said. "Going forward, we will be a stronger company. Fewer stores require fewer people.”