RETAIL giant Topshop is to open its biggest store outside London in Liverpool city centre.
The huge 60,000 sq ft outlet will be created by hugely extending the store in Church Street and incorporating it into Grosvenor’s Liverpool One retail development.
Last night Grosvenor confirmed that Topshop, part of tycoon Philip Green’s Arcadia Empire, had signed up for the scheme, which is due to open in 2008.
The store, which will be five times bigger than the existing store and comprise around 48,000 sq ft of trading space, will face a head to head battle to win fashion-conscious customers with a new massive Primark store, opening on the site of the former Littlewoods store nearby.
The existing Topshop building, which also includes Topman and comprises just over 11,000 sq ft of space, will be extended at the back taking it into the heart of the Paradise Street project.
A spokeswoman for Topshop told the Daily Post the revamped outlet would be a “mega store”. She added: “It will offer the best product Topshop has to offer and will carry the Style Advisor service.”
In recent years, Topshop has transformed itself into one of the most successful retail chains in the UK and now has ambitious plans to expand rapidly both here and abroad.
In Britain, it will roll out an expansion programme costing £75m which will see an extra 400,000 sq ft of floor-space added to its existing 1.3m sq ft estate. It has been estimated this could boost annual sales by £200m.
There are also plans to open a 50,000 sq ft store in Paris as well as new outlets in Scandinavia and possibly even in China and India.
The recent £3m signing of supermodel Kate Moss, who has designed her own clothing range, has only added to the chain’s street cred with young people. Its products are popular with both the ordinary shopper and the rich and famous. Ms Moss’ designs will also be sold in Barneys department stores across the US.
Profits for this year are forecast to come in at £150m – up from £130m last year – and some City analysts believe a stock flotation is a possibility at some point in the future.
In becoming part of Liverpool 1, Topshop is joining a retail scheme worth nearly £1bn, that will create 1.6m sq ft of new retail space.
The scheme is being anchored by John Lewis, which is relocating from Church Street, and Debenhams, which is coming to Liverpool for the first time.
tonymcdonough
Topshop reveals massive store plan
