Boohoo has bagged Debenhams and Asos is in pole position for the best bits of Arcadia
- Debenhams deal and Topshop talks: thousands of jobs at risk
- Boohoo buying Debenhams: a changing of the guard in retail
It’s looking like a clean-sweep for the online brigade in the great retail carve-up. Boohoo has bagged Debenhams and Asos is in pole position for the best bits of Arcadia, meaning Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge. This outcome, unfortunately, will maximise the number of store closures, and thus job losses, since both buyers will stick rigidly to their online-only formula. It also seemed unlikely even a few weeks ago.
JD Sports and Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group were contemplating bids to resuscitate Debenhams, albeit not necessarily in full 124-store form, while Next wanted to own Topshop and keep the shops open. Why couldn’t the old guard win the bidding?
