High street retail group Blokker Holding posted a record loss of €52m last year, the company said on Wednesday. Sales were down 1% at €2.1bn.

Blokker Holding, which owns the Blokker, Xenos, Bart Smit and Leen Bakker chains, posted a loss of €20m in 2014, the first time it had made a loss since it was founded in 1896.

In particular, the Blokker chain of household goods stores has been struggling and has undergone two revamps since 2014 with the loss of some 800 jobs. The company has just begun a restyling project and media campaign featuring Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker.

More ‘structural cost cutting’ will take place this year, the company said in Wednesday’s statement.

By contrast, sales at competitor Action have almost doubled to €2bn over the past two years and online market leader Bol.com has tripled its turnover over three years, the NRC pointed out.