Green told Retail Week that he had talked to potential partners about opening standalone Tammy shops overseas. Tammy has not operated any standalone stores since it closed the last one in the UK about five years ago. The company also launched a Bhs Kids standalone concept in the Middle East in recent weeks and sources close to the retailer said that there was great potential to take both concepts into Eastern and Central Europe, as well as the Far East.
Green said that he also wants to open more mainline Bhs stores overseas. The chain has about 50 shops abroad already. Green said: 'We've been growing it carefully. It's a good profit centre and there's a good team there. We opened 15 stores in 2006 and plan 12 more for 2007.'
An international roll-out of the Bhs format and its spin-offs would follow the strategy of former Storehouse stablemate Mothercare, which has reached saturation point in the UK, but achieved strong sales and profit growth in new markets. Green bought Bhs from Storehouse in 2001.
Separately, Green said that the Arcadia property portfolio had been under review and that he planned to invest about£250 million across all its brands, which include Topman, Dorothy Perkins and Burton. Green also intends to export the Topshop chain to the US.
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