ARCADIA BLAMED FOR CHAIN COLLAPSE
THE man behind Rebel Sport who also brought the Topshop/Topman brand to Australia has blamed last month’s collapse of the fast fashion retailer on the British franchisor Arcadia Group.
Hilton Seskin told a business lunch in Sydney that Topshop failed because the franchisor was more concerned with “clipping a ticket” rather than the overall strength and profitability of the business.
Mr Seskin was part of a panel at the Australian Israel Chamber of Commerce lunch yesterday which discussed the future of retail, with a focus on the impending arrival of US titan Amazon, the tough sales environment and rental fees.
Mr Seskin, who is also the man behind the Glue retail stores and sportswear company JD Sports, said discounting in the online space was severely hurting bricks and mortar retailers all over the country.
“I think retail is exceptionally tough, I have never seen it this tough, I think that the sales line might look OK in the press but we don’t disclose margin lines,” he said.
Mr Seskin blamed the collapse of trendy retailer Topshop on the British franchisor Arcadia Group.
“I have just been through the collapse of an amazing business because the franchisor was only focused on clipping a ticket and not focused on the success to our consumer and obviously our profitability,” he said.