Online fashion retailer Boohoo has agreed to buy the brand of failed department store Debenhams just as rival Asos sets its sights on Topshop, the clearest sign yet of how the pandemic is helping to reshape Britain’s retail industry, reported The Financial Times.
The news that Boohoo will pay £55 million (US$75.13 million) for the intellectual property, including customer data, of Debenhams, came as Asos announced it was in exclusive talks to acquire the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, and HIIT brands that were part of Arcadia, the fashion empire assembled by retail tycoon Philip Green.
Neither Asos nor Boohoo want to operate physical shops, meaning that Debenhams’ remaining 118 department stores and more than 400 sites occupied by Arcadia look set to close for good, threatening tens of thousands of jobs.
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