Popular Chichester clothing shop to be taken over by retail giant
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If the deal goes ahead, it could see Next – which already owns 500 stores up and down the UK – taking control of the 200 Fatface stores across the country, including the branch on East Street, in Chichester.
Sky News reported the deal could be close to completion and is expected to be formally announced later this week.
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Hide AdIt would mark the latest in a string of major acquisitions by the high street giant, making it one of the biggest clothing brands in the UK. The company has already snatched up furniture brand Made.com, fashion brand Joules (which formerly owned a Chichester branch), a minority stake JoJo Maman BéBé (which has a store in South Street) and increased its stake in fashion chain Reiss. Other brands, like Cath Kidson, were also acquired and the company is also known to have struck deals with Gap and Victoria’s Secret.
The purchases have been made in an effort to beef up Next’s suite of online services for third party brands, a service dubbed Total Platform, in order to ensure they can provide the most comprehensive service possible.
Fatface stores struggled during the pandemic and it was taken over by lenders in 2020. Although recent annual results suggest sales had jumped up by 15 per cent, last year the company revealed it was looking for a buyer through investment bank Rothschild.