Further blow for high street as future of Topshop stores look uncertain under new Asos deal

Asos has sealed the takeover of Topshop and three other brands – Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT – from the collapse of the Arcadia retail empire for £265m,

Asos said it will take on stock worth £65m and around 300 employees as part of the deal.

However, the deal does not include any of the brands’ 70 stores, putting 2,500 jobs at risk and leading to further fears of a diminishing high street, particular in Portsmouth’s Commercial Road, which has recently lost large department store Debenhams.

There are also Topshop stores in Whiteley Shopping Centre and East Street, Chichester. The stores are currently closed under lockdown rules and it is not clear whether they will reopen.

Asos chief executive Nick Beighton told reporters on Monday that the company was ‘looking at’ the possibility of retaining Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford Street, but admitted it was ‘not a priority’.

‘It is something we are considering but we are not a stores business,’ he said.

‘Our priority is to double down on the brands, which we’ve seen perform incredibly well across our platform.’

Daniel Curtis, from Portsmouth-based law firm Blake Morgan, which has been studying Portsmouth city centre, said the move was a ‘significant blow'.

He said: ‘After a year of losses, this is another significant blow at a local level, but it doesn’t mean the end of the high street.

‘While major brands are having to re-think their ‘bricks and mortar’ strategies in difficult times, there are opportunities locally to adapt and repurpose high streets once we’re clear of the pandemic.

‘This may mean offering spaces up for alternative retailers, delivering incubator units for start-ups or adapting hotspots into high quality housing, workspaces or leisure facilities, but being creative and flexible will be key to the ongoing importance of city centres and high streets.’

Arcadia collapsed into insolvency at the start of December after pandemic closures further exacerbated the group’s troubles.

Last week, Boohoo said it was in exclusive talks to buy the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands in a move which will also not include any stores.

Asos said its acquisition of the four brands will ‘resonate’ with its core customer base of ‘20-somethings’ in the UK.

It said it expects the deal to complete later this week, adding that it will also see £20m worth of one-off restructuring and transaction costs.

Asos said the Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge websites will start re-directing customers to Asos from ‘Wednesday evening or Thursday morning’.

SEE ALSO: Topshop in Fareham to close along with 23 stores across the UK

Mr Beighton said more clothing lines from the acquired brands will appear on its site from this period, with the first Asos-designed Topshop and Topman products expected to appear later in the year.

He added: ‘We are extremely proud to be the new owners of the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands.

‘The acquisition of these iconic British brands is a hugely exciting moment for Asos and our customers and will help accelerate our multi-brand platform strategy.

‘We have been central to driving their recent growth online and, under our ownership, we will develop them further, using our design, marketing, technology and logistics expertise, and working closely with key strategic retail partners in the UK and around the world.’

Topshop closed its store in Fareham Shopping Centre last year.

Miss Selfridge had a store in Cascades Shopping Centre, in Portsmouth, however this closed in 2017.