Thousands of jobs are at risk in the deal by online clothing giant Asos to buy four brands from the collapsed Arcadia Group.

The fast fashion retailer that caters for 20-something shoppers has bought Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT in a £265million deal.

What happens to the shops?

Asos has confirmed that it does not intend to keep any of the stores open - putting thousands of jobs at risk.

But Asos boss told reporters that it could keep Topshop’s flagship Oxford Circus store open.

Nick Beighton, chief executive officer at Asos, said the company is “looking at” the possibility of keeping hold of the store.

He admitted that the move is “not a priority” and that Asos is “not a store business”, but that it was weighing up the benefits of continuing to operate from the central London location in some capacity.

Asos said its £265 million deal to buy the Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from Arcadia’s administrators at Deloitte would not include stores.

Following the collapse of Arcadia in December, KPMG was separately hired as administrators for the 214 Oxford Street building, which also houses Nike and Vans stores.

Administrators said that before the lockdown, which has closed all non-essential retail stores, the 100,000 square foot site welcomed 400,000 customers through its doors each week.

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What about the Oxford Circus flagship store?

Mr Beighton said Asos would discuss the possibility of taking on the lease of the Topshop store in the building with a third-party partnership, but has no intention of buying it outright.

The store, which boasted a DJ booth, nail bar and food stalls, was a retail sensation after it opened in 1994.

Guy Elliott, Senior Vice President, Retail and Retail Analyst at consultancy Publicis Sapient, said that keeping the Oxford Circus store would help brand awareness.

And he said it was disappointing that it would not keep the wider store portfolio.

Where will you be able to buy Topshop clothing?

Mr Elliott said: "ASOS’s acquisition of Arcadia brands Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge is a quick move to acquire some valuable consumers and brand assets ‘on the cheap’.

"It’s positive because it keeps these much-loved British high street brands alive.

"ASOS seem to be building up their “own brand” portfolio so their products will be more balanced between their own ASOS brand and that of third parties, which makes sense.

"However, I think it is disappointing, and somewhat short-sighted that they are not keeping any of the brand stores. That to me, feels like a bad longer-term decision. Though I guess this way, they don’t take on any of that debt/cost initially and could always rebuild store infrastructure at a later date. Let’s hope so.”

What about the rest of the Arcadia brands?

Boohoo is still in talks to buy Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands from Arcadia administrators. If successful, the deal would be the Manchester online retailer's second raid on the UK high street after its acquisition of Debenhams last month.

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