Do you know someone who loves fashion?
Chances are they have an item from the global fashion brand TopShop collection in their closet.
Or several items.
If they live in Burnaby, they likely bought the TopShop items from the Bay at Lougheed Town Centre or Metropolis at Metrotown.
The Bay is having its share of problems paying its rent, but it’s TopShop’s parent company, Arcadia, that is also in trouble.
Arcadia has filed for bankruptcy protection and now accounting firm Deloitte is handling a possible sale, if they are any takers.
Arcadia has hundreds of stores around the world under such brands as Burton and Dorothy Perkins.
TopShop’s sales at the Bay could end if this particular brand isn’t bought as part of the bankruptcy sale.
The company was started in England by billionaire Philip Green, but has seen sales slide during the past few years and then exacerbated by COVID-19.
“This is an incredibly sad day for all of our colleagues as well as our suppliers and our many other stakeholders,” said Ian Grabiner, Arcadia’s CEO, in a statement. “Throughout this immensely challenging time our priority has been to protect jobs and preserve the financial stability of the Group in the hope that we could ride out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side. Ultimately, however, in the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe.”
