Now embattled Green could close flagship Oxford St shop
SIR Philip Green is expected to close the flagship Miss Selfridge store on Oxford Street in July as part of a wider restructuring of his struggling retail empire.
Sir Philip’s Arcadia Group, which includes brands such as Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Evans, has been hit by the wider crisis facing high street as shoppers turn online.
Last week Arcadia said it plans to close 23 stores in a restructuring process called a company voluntary arrangement, which allows it renegotiate rents and shut under-performing shops.
The plans will put at least 520 jobs at risk. And now it has emerged Arcadia will close another 25 stores – with the brunt of the closures being forced upon Evans and Miss Selfridge, which appeals to teenagers and young women. As part of the deal, Sir Philip is controversially proposing that Arcadia cuts the amount of money it pays into the pension pot by half, to £25million a year.
He and wife Lady Tina have said they will put £100million into the scheme over the next three years from their personal fortune.
Arcadia Group’s creditors will vote on the restructuring plans on June 5.
The main Oxford Street Miss Selfridge shop will move next door, where it will become a basement concession in the sprawling flagship Topshop. The current Miss Selfridge site will be rented out.
Arcadia said that many staff will be transferred to the concession within Topshop, the Guardian reported. Arcadia was contacted for comment.