Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins and Burton to close all stores in the Philippines

A number of high street fashion brands are set to close shop in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail brands Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, and Burton, all owned by British multinational company Arcadia, will be closing down all their stores in the Philippines, and all branches are expected to cease operations completely by April this year.

Inside the Oxford Circus Flagship store of Topman / Source: Topshop Topman (Linkedin)

This unfortunate move comes after Arcadia, the parent company of the mentioned brands, has gone bankrupt.

Topshop was established in 1964 and by 2015, it had 510 stores across 58 countries. Its slow decline had reportedly begun back in the early 2010s when many retailers turned to online operations to address the consumers' needs.

Topshop and its sister brand Topman were both known as frontrunners in the Britain high street fashion scene.

Their other sister brand Dorothy Perkins is best known for timeless and versatile fashion pieces, while Burton specialized in casual and formal menswear.

Although the physical stores of these Arcadia-owned brands will be closing, it's not entirely the end for these brands, as two British e-commerce platforms have purchased them.

Earlier this month, ASOS has purchased Topshop and Topman from Arcadia, while Boohoo bought Dorothy Perkins and Burton.

In an article published by The Guardian, it was cleared that these buyouts do not include Arcadia's physical stores and warehouses.

Boohoo said that the purchase only includes “the e-commerce and digital assets and associated intellectual property rights,” which includes “customer data, related business information, and inventory.”

Arcadia isn't the only fashion group that decided to close its physical stores amid the pandemic.

In June 2020, Inditex, the mother company of Zara, Bershka, and Pull & Bear announced that it will be closing down 1,200 stores in Asia and Europe to focus on online retailing, after suffering from a 44% decline in sales.

Then in July 2020, Swedish fashion brand H&M followed suit and declared that it will be closing 170 of its stores and pivoting its focus into the digitalization of its business.

For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

Check out also the gallery of businesses in the Philippines that closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.