By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
The owners of Tie Rack will on Wednesday begin shutting down the chain's UK shops in a move likely to spell the death of the brand on British high streets.
Sky News has learnt that Tie Rack's investors have decided to bring the curtain down on the well-known retailer's remaining 44 UK stores, more than 30 years after the company was founded.
The move could threaten up to 200 jobs.
A closing-down sale is expected to begin on Wednesday, according to insiders, with the UK shops expected to have shut their doors for the last time by the end of the year.
Tie Rack is controlled by an Italian company called The Fingen Group, described on the retailer's website as "a conglomerate with business interests in retail and real estate".
Grant Thornton, the accountancy firm, is understood to have been asked by Tie Rack's owners to canvas prospective buyers of the overseas shops.
The current shareholders will retain ownership of the Tie Rack brand online, said one source.
Negotiations are also underway with British airport operators about Tie Rack retaining a presence at some of them, although the fate of those discussions is uncertain.
Tie Rack is one of dozens of high street retailers burdened by underinvestment, high overhead costs and changing consumer behaviour in recent years.
Tie Rack floated on the London Stock Exchange during the 1980s and saw more than £1bn of orders for just £12.5m-worth of shares, expanding to a peak of 450 stores in 1998. Since then, the chain has been in serial decline as it failed to keep pace with more fashionable competitors.
At its largest, Tie Rack had shops in 31 countries, including the US, Canada, France, Belgium, Spain and Ireland.
Ties now account for about only 20% of sales with the majority accounted for by other accessories.
Accounts for the business show that for the year to January 31, 2012, Tie Rack's turnover was £68.1m, with a £pre-tax loss of £6.8m.
Tie Rack, whose Rolling Luggage fascia will be unaffected by the store closures, could not be reached for comment.
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