Arcadia boss Sir Philip Green is aiming to double sales at Topshop within the next five years, through an ambitious programme of international expansion at the young fashion chain.
Green plans to expand Topshop’s presence in the US with a string of 100%-owned stores including in Miami and on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.
Arcadia will also open new stores in Sydney in Australia, Sao Paolo in Brazil and in Asia, and is eyeing opportunities in Mexico, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Romania and South Korea, although these may be franchise operated rather than 100% owned.
“If you look at Zara and H&M and the size of their businesses, I think we can double the size of Topshop through overseas expansion,” Green told the Sunday Times ahead of receiving America’s International Retailer of the Year award from the National Retail Federation later this week.
“It’s not a question of winding down in the UK. We want to do flagship stores here but overseas we haven’t even scratched the surface. There’s a lot to do. Topshop exports well because it has an identity and a point of view.”
Topshop has almost 450 stores including 303 in the UK and 136 in continental Europe. It opened its first US store in New York in February 2009.
Topshop had its best ever year in the 12 months to August 28, as pre-tax profits at parent Arcadia Group climbed 6.4% to £213.2m.
Arcadia’s UK like for like sales grew 1.3% during the period - which Green hailed as a “good performance in a competitive and challenging year”.
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