Iconic brand returning to UK high streets – £800m deal (Image: Getty)
John Lewis is set to revive a much-loved fashion retailer that has disappeared from the UK high street. The company is set to roll out new Topshop stores — whose last standalone stores shut in 2021 — across all 32 of its department stores from Tuesday.
The move comes as part of a wider strategy to introduce new brands for the spring and summer season, linked to John Lewis’s £800 million long-term investment in its shops. The John Lewis Partnership confirmed the tie-up with Topshop last year, initially trialling the brand through pop-ups in selected locations. Topshop and its sister label Topman have been absent from high streets since former owner Arcadia went into administration in 2021.
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The brand was a popular figure on the UK high street (Image: Getty)
After its collapse under owner Arcadia, the label was bought by Asos, which continued selling it exclusively online.
It made a tentative return to bricks-and-mortar retail last year with a launch inside London department store Liberty, before announcing a wider partnership with John Lewis weeks later.
Topshop ranges will now be stocked in all 32 John Lewis branches, while Topman will appear in seven locations. The rollout includes around 130 of the brand’s most sought-after items, led by its well-known denim lines.
Both Topshop and Topman will also be sold through John Lewis’s online platforms as part of the relaunch.
Topshop managing director Michelle Wilson said the move was designed to make the labels easier to buy, allowing shoppers to browse the collections in person and leave with purchases immediately, adding that the John Lewis partnership restores the brand to high streets nationwide alongside the level of service customers expect.
The move coincides with London Fashion Week and will be followed by a “takeover” of Piccadilly Circus in London and activations elsewhere across the UK.
The launch comes amid efforts by the department store chain to drive growth as it continues a major transformation plan under boss Peter Ruis.
He said the brand, which is part of the John Lewis Partnership with supermarket chain Waitrose, is investing into its fashion offer to help drive its current strategy.
Mr Ruis, managing director of John Lewis, said: “This moment marks a significant acceleration of our fashion ambition at John Lewis.
“To be the exclusive home of an iconic brand like Topshop, sat alongside other exciting new brands, signals our commitment to be the definitive style authority on the British high street.”
John Lewis has said it is also introducing 14 new fashion, jewellery and accessory labels ahead of this season amid efforts to expand its fashion offer.
It also follows a major redesign of the fashion floors at the retailer’s Oxford Street flagship shop.
Topshop products will be available at the following John Lewis stores:
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Newcastle
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- Trafford, Manchester
- Cheadle, Manchester
- Cardiff, Wales
- Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
- Leicester, Leicestershire
- Solihull, West Midlands
- Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
- Welwyn, Hertfordshire
- Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Chelmsford, Essex
- Cribbs Causeway, Bristol
- Exeter, Devon
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
- Reading, Berkshire
- Bluewater Kent
- Horsham, West Sussex
- Southampton, Hampshire
- Brent Cross, London
- Stratford, London
- Canary Wharf, London
- Oxford Street, London
- Peter Jones, London
- White City, London
- Kingston, London