"Topshop" Filed For Bankruptcy Protection To Seek Buyer'S Bid

It is reported that Debenham, a British department store chain, was forced to decide to wind up on December 1 after talks with British sports fashion brand JD sports failed.

With 232 years of history, Debenham has struggled for years as consumers turn to online shopping and the number of customers visiting stores is declining. The blockade measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus became the last straw to crush the company.

In April, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and sought a buyer to take over the offer. Since May, the company has cut 6500 jobs in physical stores.

On the other hand, JD sports has cancelled its intention to acquire Debenham, one of the reasons is that Acadia group, the leasing partner of Debenhams, announced its bankruptcy on the evening of November 30.

Arcadia, a retail giant with brands such as Topshop and Burton, has started bankruptcy proceedings. The jobs of its 13000 employees are at stake.

So far, the former clothing retail giant has become the most seriously affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the UK.

Arcadia group was acquired by Sir Philip Green for 850 million pounds in 2002. After applying for bankruptcy protection, Deloitte will be responsible for the custody of Arcadia group. Deloitte said it was currently working with the group's management to assess all possibilities for its brands and hoped to find suitable buyers for several brands such as Topshop and Burton.

The head of Acadia group said that affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the group's stores were forced to close for a long time, seriously affecting the sales of all brands. During the trusteeship period, the top priority of the group management is to protect the jobs and maintain the financial stability of the group, hoping to get rid of the impact of the epidemic.

It is understood that during the outbreak, Acadia group's sales fell sharply and it has not been able to obtain additional funds to repay its debts. According to statistics, in addition to Topshop and Topman, Acadia group also owns brands such as Miss Selfridges, Burton, outfit, outfit kids, dorophy Perkins and Evans. It has 444 retail stores in the UK, 22 stores overseas and online business. At present, 9294 of the group's 13000 employees are being "forced to take leave".

In response to the epidemic, Acadia group has been taking measures to increase revenue and reduce expenditure at the beginning of this year. First, the salary of senior executives was reduced by 25% to 50%. Then, employees of closed stores were forced to take unpaid leave temporarily. 9294 of the group's 13000 employees were on leave.

So far, the team that took over the Acadia group has not announced plans for layoffs, and said the stores would remain open after the closure of England on December 2. Ian Grabiner stressed that its brand's e-commerce platform has also been fully put into operation, and will continue to supply for partners.

In fact, it is no surprise that Acadia group has come to this step today. Since 2018, the group has been on the verge of bankruptcy. The news that Topshop will be sold is constantly spreading. The epidemic in 2020 is just the straw that will overwhelm camels.

Founded in 1964, Topshop has developed rapidly since its establishment. It has been operated as an independent brand, with 55 stores and an annual profit of 1 million pounds in just two years.

In 1999, Topshop ushered in its first brand director, Jane Shepherdson. Under her guidance, Topshop has become the most popular fashion brand among British consumers. Its flagship store in Oxford Street in London attracts 200000 consumers every week. Jeans with large size and comfortable materials are the iconic products of Topshop. The high-end series "Topshop unique" and ivy Park Series cooperated with Beyonce are highly praised.

However, with the gradual saturation of traditional fast fashion industry, the renewal and iteration of consumers, and the popularity of Internet shopping, the sales of Arcadia group began to decline after reaching 2.68 billion pounds in 2011. In 2018, it further dropped to 1.8 billion pounds, and recorded an unprecedented loss of 169 million pounds. The once high street "Topshop" is declining.

In May 2017, Topshop Australian franchisee applied for bankruptcy protection. In September, Topshop's New Zealand business suffered the same fate. In October, the brand closed about half of its UK stores for restructuring.

In terms of China business, Topshop came and went in a hurry and eventually failed. In September 2014, shangpin.com announced to obtain the franchise right of Topshop in China. Two months later, Topshop chose to settle in tmall. In November 2018, Topshop closed tmall's flagship store and officially withdrew from the Chinese market. Before that, the brand had not opened physical stores in mainland China.

Jane Shepherdson, the former chief executive of Topshop, said in an interview that the fall of Arcadia group was related to its failure to transform online after the outbreak of the epidemic Sir Green has never attached importance to the online business, and he has not made any investment in this area at all, resulting in consumers not knowing what to buy after the store recovers. ".

Within two days, Arcadia and debenheim went bankrupt one after another, causing a major blow to the British retail industry.

However, the root cause of the failure of the famous British department stores, such as the department stores and the famous men's clothing companies, has lagged behind in the development of famous British department stores and men's clothing stores.