Peter Lucas and Arafa Holding, the former owners of collapsed menswear chain Suits You, have acquired 12 of its 66 stores through Baird Group and relaunched them under the Suitdirect fascia.
Egyptian menswear supplier Arafa owns the majority share in Baird Group, and Lucas, its chairman, owns the other major share.
The pair - who owned Suits You through Speciality Retail Group before it fell into administration - bought the Suits You stores from administrator Zolfo Cooper this month for an undisclosed sum.
Suitdirect has been trading as an etailer for a year and is wholly owned by Baird Group. Its new bricks-and-mortar operation will stock menswear brands including Jeff Banks and operate hire under Baird Group’s Young’s Hire brand. It will also offer made-to-measure services. The relaunched stores all trade in designer outlets, in locations such as York, Doncaster, Mansfield and Swindon.
Lucas said that, despite the closure of his former chain, Suitdirect would be successful, as it had a “different kind of business model”.
He added: “The Suits You model was heavily discounted and was all about offers, such as buy one, get one free.
“Suitdirect is about good quality brands. It will be presented differently and it won’t be as price-led.”
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