This is great news for American fans! One high end store is set to feature the top notch brand, Topshop, to their collection, giving the beloved British fashion label’s American fans a huge reason to be excited! Topshop is extremely fashionable, and even better, they carry both women’s and men’s clothing. British fashion galore! But which fashion store will carry it? Check out the details below.
Nordstrom’s plunge into retail partnerships to raise its style profile with fashionistas continues. This time, the 111-year old department store chain will turn over floor space to UK’s fast fashion giant Topshop. The move will place Topshop’s signature posh-without-the-price apparel and accessories in 14 of Nordstrom’s 117 full-scale locations in September.
The shop-within-shop concept has women’s merchandise displayed within a 2,500 square foot space without walls. Topshop branding will be clearly defined by its splashy neon signage and punctuated by its alabaster bald mannequins. A smaller (1,500 square foot) area will be devoted to Topman, the brand’s menswear assortment. Limited edition items will be featured and the full collection will be available online at nordstrom.com.
Nordstrom’s got speed on the brain. The Seattle-based chain already mastered the art of inventory integration between stores and warehouses. Nordstrom reports that turn around has gone fro 5.6 in 2011 up from 4.84 in 2005. This improves profit margins substantially thanks to eliminating the need for sizable markdowns.
The current strategy to tap a high street brand that churns out on-trend items at an astounding rate (think 200 new styles a week at Topshop’s London flagship) is clearly directed at engaging shoppers who prefer to browse and buy more frequently than its regular (read: more conservative spenders) customers.
Nordstrom’s already heavily invested in a creative collaborations with Bonobos, the e-commerce site for men’s trousers that will place the custom designs in Nordstrom stores and flash sale site Haute Look. Nordstrom also pumped a $140 million into its own e-commerce efforts earlier this year.
But the partnership may actually benefit Arcadia Group, Topshop’s parent and the U.K.’s largest privately-owned retailer, even more. Arcadia’s owner Sir Philip Green has been pursuing American expansion as the company’s portfolio of brands (including Miss Selfridge and Wallis) suffered from flagging profits over the past two years.
Topshop’s recently opened Las Vegas flagship joined a Chicago outpost and plans are still to open doors in Miami and another location in NYC. The latter would be the second in Manhattan. Topshop’s SoHo store sales rose 20 percent in the first six months this year according to a report by the New York Times.
Hard on the heels of the Target and Neiman Marcus holiday collaboration, this Nordstrom news may not generate the initial fanfare of retail’s odd coupling. However, Nordstrom’s proven its strategies are more about sustaining sales rather than making a quick splash.
Source: Forbes
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