On Monday 25th January, it was reported that fashion retailer Boohoo paid £55m to acquire Debenhams with the aim of relaunching it online while closing down all 118 physical stores. According to reports, the cut-price deal for the brand name, intellectual property and customer lists will eventually result in the closure of Debenhams' store as none of these sites are included in the sale and will ultimately result in 10,000 job losses.
The stores are expected to re-open only for the purpose of clearing stock only after Covid-19 restrictions are loosened. A fire sale is continuing online presently.
The developments leave more than 10,000 staff facing the prospect of redundancy, though it was hoped there would be some limited opportunities for Debenhams staff to secure roles with Boohoo.
Meanwhile ASOS has also confirmed that it was hoping to acquire TopShop, TopMan, Miss Selfridge and leisurewear range HIIT from Sir Philip Green's collapsed Arcadia retail empire - again with brands rather than stores targeted for rescue.
In a statement to Sky News, Boohoo said, "Debenhams is a long-standing and leading UK fashion and beauty retailer with high brand awareness, and an established online platform with approximately 300 million UK website visits per annum
