| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail, fashion |
| Founded | 1964 (Sheffield)[1] |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Area served | Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States |
| Products | Clothing, shoes, bags |
| Parent | Arcadia Group |
| Website | www.topshop.co.uk |
Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories. It is part of the Arcadia Group, which owns a number of other retail outlets including Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, and is wholly owned by Philip Green.
The chain was founded in 1964 as Peter Robinson's Top Shop, a youth fashion brand within the Sheffield branch of Peter Robinson, a now-defunct department store chain.[1] The first stand-alone Topshop store was opened in 1974.[1] In 1978, Topman was created as a spin-off brand to cater for male customers and is now run as a separate chain, although some stores are co-located.[1]
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Topshop's current trends are 'New Mod', 'Prim and Polished', 'Glam Underground' and 'Bavaria', alongside luxury garments and designer affiliations under 'The Boutique'.
In May 2007, the British supermodel Kate Moss, designed her first collection for Topshop.[2] The appointment of Moss was announced just before the departure of CEO Jane Shepherdson.
In July 2007, British artist Stella Vine designed a limited edition fashion range exclusively for Topshop inspired by her colourful artworks. These included T-shirts,[3] vest tops, and T-shirt dresses,[4] with the labels designed in pink glitter.[5] The Guardian commented that "the fact that the range of T-shirts she has recently designed for Top Shop - emblazoned with slogans like Breaking Up With Her Boyfriend - are flying out, speaks volumes for her public support."[6] Shiatzy Chen was approached by Topshop to produce a capsule collection of ready to wear pieces to launch in November 2010.
In the Americas, Topshop currently has branches in Brazil, Canada and the United States. In Europe, Topshop has branches in Croatia, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Iceland, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In the Middle East, the chain has branches in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In South East Asia, the chain has branches in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
After the recent success of the Kate Moss clothing range, Topshop decided to introduce the range to the United States market. Topshop has struck a deal with U.S. department store Barneys New York to sell through its 19 stores.[7] Topshop also has a presence in 'Opening Ceremony' in their New York store.
On 1 May 2010, Topshop opened its first New Zealand store. Located on Auckland's North Shore, the shop sold out of some of its ranges before it had even opened.[8] New Zealand designer Karen Walker visited Britain earlier in the year and selected many of the pieces to be sold in the New Zealand store.[9]
A 2011 expansion of Topshop into Australia, with state-based flagships opened in both New South Wales and Victoria, has also been reported.[10] Topshop's parent company has, however, refused to confirm or deny such an expansion.[10]
Topshop Oxford Street is the UK flagship store and the largest fashion store in the world.[11][12] The store's features include a nail bar, a one-hour tailoring service, a hair salon by catwalk hairdresser Daniel Hersheson, an EAT café/sandwich bar, and a one-hour delivery service whereby customers can place an order to the store and their products will be delivered by Vespa scooter to them within one hour, providing that they live in the delivery zone.[13] Topshop Oxford Circus is roughly 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2) and covers five floors.[14] The shop attracts up to 30,000 customers each day.[15] Customers can also access fellow Arcadia Group member Miss Selfridge, which is situated next door, through the sweet shop.
Topshop's first flagship store outside the United Kingdom is located on Broadway in New York City.[16] The new store offers services similar to the London outlet.[17] The New York store is the brand's second largest store after the company's flagship store in London: the New York store is roughly 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2).[18][19] Sir Philip Green thinks the New York flagship will be a hit, despite the current economic issues, "People haven't stopped shopping. The young fashion market has still remained pretty resilient during these difficult times."[20]
In the summer of 2009, Topshop opened its first Manhattan-style concept store in the United Kingdom, in Liverpool, England. Located in Liverpool One, the new store provides 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of retail space making it the second largest store in the country.[21] It is the company's north of England flagship store and also contains Topman, an Office and Kurt Geiger shoes outlet, and a Voodoo hair salon.[22]
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On 4 December 2010, campaigners staged a sit-in at Topshop's flagship Oxford Street store, and in Brighton a few glued themselves to the branch windows, while other high streets in towns and cities across Britain saw similar protests in a day of action against the tax arrangements of rich individuals and big businesses.[24]
In February 2011 armed police arrested 19 year old Jed Miller after he wrote "pay your taxes" in washable ink on the wall of a Top Shop branch in Colchester.[25]
Topshop has been criticized by student campaigning network People & Planet for allegedly using cotton picked in Uzbekistan by slaves, and for refusing to join the Ethical Trading Initiative.[26]
In response to criticisms about the workings condition of employees in factories producing products for Topshop Philip Green stated: "You [The Sunday Times] are telling me that factories are happy to breach our code of conduct. I've got to look into it." This suggests that if the findings are conclusive, the company will be looking to improve conditions.