BBC Audio Fighting Talk.txt
Topshop will return to High Street in John Lewis stores.txt
Topshop will return to High Street in 20268 days agoShareSaveEmma SimpsonBusiness correspondent,quina 5937 BBC NewsShareSaveTopshopTopshop will return to the High Street, five years after it closed all of its UK stores.The brand is going to be available in 32 John Lewis shops from February 2026, while its menswear brand Topman will be sold in six stores.After its heyday in the 2000s and 2010s, the Topshop chain disappeared following the collapse of Sir Philip Green's retail empire, which owned the brand as well as Burton and Dorothy Perkins.The Topshop name was bought by the online retailer Asos, which sold its majority stake last September to the Danish retail tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen and is now attempting a major comeback.Asos currently sells Topshop and Topman goods on its website and a standalone Topshop site was recently relaunched but it was unclear if the brand would ever reappear on the High Street again until recently. "Customers absolutely want to see us back in stores and we want to bring that nationwide," said Michelle Wilson, managing director of Topshop and Topman.The new Topshop spring collection will feature 120 pieces, curated by John Lewis.The brand will be given a "prime" position in stores, according to Peter Ruis, managing director at John Lewis.He said he hopes the partnering with the brand will bring new customers through the department store's doors. "I think the best fashion brands are multi-generational. The brilliance of Topshop is it is so affordable," he said.The upmarket store Liberty London in Soho recently started to sell a small Topshop collection.But the tie-up with John Lewis is the first nationwide partnership for the brand and the fashion retailer wants to introduce some standalone stores in future.Topshop returns to the High Street, but can it get its cool back?Topshop struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it had to close its physical stores, but it had been having problems for several years.It failed to keep up with changing shopping habits among its key demographic – teenagers and young adults – primarily the rise of online shopping.As its core customers aged-out of its products, it struggled to replace them with new shoppers or adapt its products to its old base's tastes.The brand also faced growing criticism for its sustainability record, as young shoppers became more conscious about the environmental impact of the fast-fashion industry.Retail consultant Graham Soult said the partnership between John Lewis and Topshop was "a canny move for both brands"."If you're Topshop, you've got a customer base who have a real affection for the brand," he said. And for John Lewis, "it gets the name out there in a positive way" and draws in new customers."Maybe this will be a template for how you bring back an iconic name", he said. Bethan Alexander, an associate professor in retail, marketing and management at London College of Fashion, said the partnership between the two brands may seem odd given their highly different customer bases, though added that it could benefit them both significantly.However, she said Topshop will have to remember that High Street fashion "has come a long way" since the brand's heyday."That traditional shopper is now older [and] more conscious about their consumption," she said. "You can't just resurrect the same fast fashion heritage … the customer is different today."Additional reporting by Emer MoreauCompaniesRetailingArcadia GroupAsosJohn LewisFashion
