Myer walks away from Topshop concessions

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 14, 2017

At the time of writing, the company still lists the concessions on its website, but local reports said that there is little sign the brand had ever been there inside the 17 Myer stores that carried the women’s and men's brands.

The news comes just a few days after it emerged that the Australian Topshop/Topman administrators are closing as many as five of its standalone stores, including the first location the brands opened in the country. Only Emporium Melbourne, Gowings Sydney, Bondi Junction and Brisbane will continue.

Arcadia has been talking to administrator Ferrier Hodgson since debts of A$35 million led to franchisee Austradia collapsing in May. Myer had bought a 25% stake in the business during 2015, four years after the brands’ Australian debut, and this was diluted to a still-substantial 20% holding last year. In its latest half-year results, Myer had written-down its A$9.2 million stake to A$7.2 million and the firm is also believed to be a major unsecured creditor of the failed business.

It has also emerged that Austradia’s major shareholder Hilton Seskin had been holding talks with Arcadia about a restructure for some time before the collapse. While he said little at the time of the collapse, he has more recently been quoted criticising Arcadia’s Australian operating model saying the supply chain was too complex and the product made available in Australia, which was controlled by the UK business, was not strong enough.

Arcadia is still expected to take direct control of the Australian business and reports have said it had been keen to retain the Myer link.

The administrator has made little comment on the issues surrounding the Topshop and Topman brands but said its priority is still to find an “appropriate operating model and structure” to continue the brands in Australia.