We all know that retail isn’t have the easiest go and it seems that instead of brands and retailers hanging on until the end, some are shifting focus and making changes while they’re ahead. It’s just been announced that U.K.-based retailer Bench will close all of its Canadian stores so that it can better focus on e-commerce.

Freemark Apparel Brands, who have the rights to sell Bench merchandise in Canada, haven’t revealed when these stores will close or how many jobs will be lost.

“We are closing our bricks-and-mortar stores to focus more on our e-commerce business as well as our key wholesale customers,” said Lawrence Routtenberg, co-president of Freemark Apparel Brands, in an email to BNN Bloomberg.

A major retail trend we’ve seen is that the number of people leaving their homes to shop is constantly dwindling so Bench shifting its focus to e-commerce might be a very clever move. We all know how much more convenient online shopping is, so for a retailer to get ahead of it could be its saving grace.

Keep in mind that just because the retailer is closing its stores, it doesn’t mean the business is going under.

The same goes for retailers that file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — it doesn’t always mean they’re going out of business.

If you’re bummed that you won’t be able to shop at your local Bench store, you can shop the brand at a number of other retailers like Hudson’s Bay, WINNERS, Costco, Marshalls, Amazon, ASOS, and more.

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