Topshop logistics ops now separate from Arcadia's as new warehouse opens

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 28, 2019

As fashion and retail giant Arcadia continues to work on its turnaround plan, and speculation around its intentions towards its various brands continues, the company has opened a warehouse specifically for Topshop and Topman products, intensifying chatter around those two brands.

The Sunday Times reported that the new automated facility in Daventry, Northamptonshire is currently processing Topman orders with Topshop also joining it early next year. Such orders had previously been handled from the company's warehouse in Milton Keynes.

It's a further step in the direction of separating out previously shared functionality within the group, a process that is being overseen by Arcadia chief Ian Grabiner.

Of course, this could be part of the normal run of business as Topshop is the company’s star label, after all. And Arcadia continues to maintain that it has no plans to dispose of any of its brands, saying that this latest move had been in the planning stage for three years. The company said the move supports the firm’s strategy for Topshop that sees it functioning as a wholesale band as well as a retail one.

Topshop has become much more widely available through other retailers in recent periods, including Asos, Shop Direct, Zalando and Next.

But industry watchers are well aware that what the warehouse could potentially mean is that Topshop and Topman would be easier to sell as a separate operation, although should Arcadia ever decide to sell any of its labels, it would also make it easier to sell off the other brands. They include Miss Selfridge, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Wallis.

For now though, we can only go on what Arcadia is saying, and to be honest, that is in itself interesting. Topshop’s fall from grace may have seen it exiting a number of overseas markets as well as reporting challenges on the sales and profits front. But it remains an important label in fashion retail and its transformation into a wholesale brand highlights how in-demand it remains, with the other retailers that are stocking it shouting loudly about the fact and making it quite prominent on their websites.