Ikea to open flagship Oxford Street store at site of shuttered Topshop

Ikea is to buy the flagship Oxford Circus keep occupied by Topshop in a £385m deal pursuing the collapse of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire.

It will give the Swedish furnishings chain a existence at the coronary heart of London’s shopping district amid booming demand for its products because lockdown was lifted.

Topshop fell into administration final November after several years of declining sales. The model was subsequently purchased by Asos, which introduced designs to dispose of all physical stores.  

The deal is not the first time the Swedish furnishings chain has attempted to move to Oxford Circus. Ikea beforehand sought to choose in excess of British Dwelling Stores’ locale on Oxford Street, and had also enquired about a internet site at a nearby  redevelopment on Cavendish Sq..

The deal brings Topshop’s fifty six-12 months tenancy on the street to an close. It moved to Oxford Circus in 1965. 

Administrators took in excess of the company which owns the internet site final November after the collapse of Sir Philip’s Arcadia style empire. They explored both sale and leasing possibility in advance of the deal with Ikea was agreed, in accordance to Respond News.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Team had also been intrigued in the internet site. But talks stalled because  Nike, an current tenant in the constructing which will maintain its keep open, has a clause in its lease prohibiting a competitor from running in the previous Topshop place. 

Wonderful Portland Estates, Criterion Cash and Ramsbury all enquired about the internet site without the need of talks progressing to a major place.

Returns from the sale will be employed to reimburse senior loan provider Apollo Cash Administration. Leftover resources will go intp plugging the £510m deficit in Arcadia’s pension scheme. 

The deal for the Oxford Circus keep follows an agreement with US true estate giant Trammell Crow for Arcadia’s previous warehouse in Milton Keynes, as quite a few Arcadia belongings are on the current market. 

Ikea did not answer to a ask for for comment.