Ikea to open Oxford Street flagship store on closed Topshop site Business

Ikea is to buy Topshop-occupied Oxford Circus flagship store in a £ 385million deal following the collapse of Sir Philip Green’s retail empire.

This will give the Swedish furniture chain a presence in the heart of London’s shopping district amid booming demand for its products since the lockdown was lifted.

Topshop came under administration last November after years of declining sales. The brand was then acquired by Asos, which announced its intention to divest all physical stores.

The deal isn’t the first time the Swedish furniture chain has tried to move to Oxford Circus. Ikea had previously sought to take over the location of British Home Stores on Oxford Street and had also made inquiries about a site as part of a nearby redevelopment on Cavendish Square.

The deal ends Topshop’s 56-year lease on the street. He moved to Oxford Circus in 1965.

The administrators took over the company that owned the site last November after Sir Philip’s Arcadia fashion empire collapsed. They explored both the put and the lease option before the deal with Ikea was made, according to React News.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group was also interested in the site. But talks have stalled because Nike, an existing tenant in the building that will keep its store open, has a clause in its lease prohibiting a competitor from operating in the old Topshop space.

Great Portland Estates, Criterion Capital and Ramsbury have all made inquiries about the site without talks progressing to a serious point.

The returns from the sale will be used to reimburse the principal lender Apollo Capital Management. The remaining funds will go to fill the Arcadia pension scheme’s £ 510million deficit.

The deal for the Oxford Circus store follows a deal with US real estate giant Trammell Crow for the former Arcadia warehouse in Milton Keynes, as many of Arcadia’s assets are in the market.

Ikea did not respond to a request for comment.