A slow market in the U.K. made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic is leading to the demise of Animal. The British surf fashion brand was begun in 1987 in the town of Poole to sell a hook and loop watch strap-designed by its founders, two surfers: Ian Elliot and Nigel Broughton. A British holding company, H. Young, acquired the brand in 2014, when it went bankrupt. It is now operating at a loss and has not found a buyer. Until January of next year Animal will continue to run its 26 stores and website and feed product to 236 other retailers, among them Debenhams (itself currently in administration), John Lewis, Blacks, Millets and Menkind. H. Young says it considered several options to keep the brand alive, such as “the use of third-party warehousing, relocation to smaller premises and an absorption into other group businesses,” but none were “compelling enough to justify the investment.” Animal posted a net profit of about £10 million (€11.4m-$12.4m) on annual revenues of about £218 million (€249m-$270m) in its 2018 financial year.

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