Topshop has confirmed it plans to open bricks and mortar shops across Britain as its revival gathers pace.
Michelle Wilson, managing director at Topshop and Topman, told fashion trade magazine Drapers that the brand has ‘something planned’ for August and beyond.
Topshop hosted a one-day pop-up event in Shoreditch, London earlier this year, called ‘Topshop In The House’.
The one-day pop up was a collaboration with Defected Records and marked Topshop’s first physical event in four years.
Wilson said this week: ‘We have something planned in August to bring Topshop back into real life again, with a more semi-permanent presence than the one-day pop-up.
‘In the shorter term that will be something with partner support and in the longer term we will do something standalone.’
Return: Topshop and Topman will return to the high street for autumn via a wholesale partner initially
She said that Topshop and Topman would return to the high street in autumn via one wholesale partner.
Wilson told Drapers: ‘I’m excited to see Topshop back in person. I think the partner that we are collaborating with is an incredible partner.
‘I think it will surprise a few people. I’m looking forward to the day that we launch that and seeing people’s reaction and excitement.’
However, Wilson stressed that the brand was not seeking to recreate what it had in its heyday, but was looking to build a presence, both in bricks and mortar and online, fit for the current market.
The retailer is gearing up for the relaunch of standalone Topshop.com and Topman.com websites, which are both currently understood to be going live in August.
Asos boss José Antonio Ramos Calamonte said in April that the chain had spent ‘two years rebuilding the product assortment of Topshop’ ahead of the relaunch.
”The time has come to come back, to be much more present with consumers in the UK, but also globally,’ he said.
Topshop will not be returning to its former flagship store at 214 Oxford Street in London, which is now occupied by the new Ikea which opened last month.
Earlier this year, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan was among those calling for the return of Topshop, stating at the time: ‘I’d meet my mates outside Topshop, my daughters took me shopping at Topshop and I know every type of Topshop jean.
‘Wouldn’t it be great to get Topshop back on Oxford Street?’
Topshop was founded in 1964 youth-focused offshoot of the department store Peter Robinson.
At its peak, Topshop was a titan of the British high street, raking in about £100million in profit, with hundreds of stores spread across almost every large town and city in the UK.
But the store’s popularity waned as it struggled to compete with fast fashion online, losing its younger shoppers to aggressive digital e-tailers like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing.
In 2018, former owners Arcadia revealed it was haemorrhaging cash, reporting a £93.4million pre-tax loss compared with £164.6million profit in the year before. And sales slumped 4.5 per cent from £1.8billion.
Amid the demise of Arcadia, owned by Philip Green, in 2021, Asos acquired Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge for £330million. At the time of its collapse, there were 70 Topshop stores across Britain.
In September last year, Asos sold a 75 per cent stake in Topshop and Topman for approximately £135million to form a joint venture with Danish holding company Heartland, controlled by the Holch Polvsen family.
It was at this point last year that Asos said it planned to relaunch the Topshop.com and Topman.com websites by the summer of 2025.
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