Department store group C&A is set to close four branches in the Netherlands next year because of poor sales, Trouw said on Thursday.

The paper bases its claim on a letter to staff and says the stores will close in May and June 2017.

The branches set for closure are in central Utrecht, Utrecht’s Kanaleneiland shopping centre, in Pijnacker and in Nijverdal. There will be no compulsory redundancies and staff will be transferred to other, nearby stores, Trouw said.

C&A has 132 branches in the Netherlands and an empire of 1,575 stores worldwide. The company was started by brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer in 1841 in the Frisian town of Sneek.

Last year, Dutch department store group V&D went bust and there were a string of other high profile high street closures.