General Article The factors behind Arcadia’s collapse

Topic Selected: Business Book Volume: 381

Drapers looks at three challenges that derailed Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group.

By Emily Sutherland

Think back to the spring of 2007. Sir Philip Green is sipping champagne alongside Kate Moss at Topshop’s giant Oxford Street store, celebrating the model’s successful collaboration with what was then one of the high street’s coolest names. Hordes of shoppers queued around the block to get their hands on the range. Topshop was beloved by fashion fans – regardless of age or budget – for its ability to deliver a reasonably priced style bargain. Green’s business empire seemed unbreakable.

The intervening years have been tough on the retail industry, and on Arcadia, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated its decline. The group, which also includes Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Topman, Evans, Wallis, Outfit and Burton, collapsed into administration on Monday evening. Drapers analyses what went wrong at what was once the high street’s biggest success story.

“The level of competition...

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