Fashion shops in Dundee’s Overgate Shopping Centre and Dunfermline’s Kingsgate Centre are to close.
Online retailer Asos today announced it had acquired Arcadia brands Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge & HIIT.
The £265 million deal is for the brands and stock – but not the stores.
The Overgate and Kingsgate shopping centres contained Topshop stores.
It is the second blow for the Dundee and Fife shopping centres in as many weeks.
Last week Debenhams was purchased by ecommerce firm Boohoo with the physical shops to close. Debenhams also operated from Perth High Street.
The move follows Arcadia, founded by Sir Philip Green, going into administration in November.
Hugely exciting moment for Asos
In an announcement to the stock exchange, Asos said it would take on around 300 workers “across design, buying and retail partnerships”.
Asos chief executive Nick Beighton said: “We are extremely proud to be the new owners of the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands.
“The acquisition of these iconic British brands is a hugely exciting moment for Asos and our customers and will help accelerate our multi-brand platform strategy.
“We have been central to driving their recent growth online and, under our ownership, we will develop them further, using our design, marketing, technology and logistics expertise, and working closely with key strategic retail partners in the UK and around the world.”
Asos said its acquisition of the four brands will “resonate” with its core customer base of “20-somethings” in the UK.
It said it expects the deal to complete later this week, adding that it will also see £20 million worth of one-off restructuring and transaction costs.
More shops under threat
Boohoo is in talks with other parts of the Arcadia fashion empire. It is in exclusive talks to acquire Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton.
Again the talks are around the brands only, not the shops.
The move would lead to three shop closures in Tayside and Fife:
· Dorothy Perkins, Abbeygate Centre, Arbroath
· Dorothy Perkins/Burton, High Street, Kirkcaldy
· Dorothy Perkins/Burton, Kingsgate Shopping Centre, Dunfermline
The carve-up of Debenhams and Arcadia between Boohoo and Asos could see 1,389,137 square metres of retail space.
This is the equivalent of 194 Premier League football pitches, coming vacant and available to let according to the real estate adviser, Altus Group.
