Arcadia tight-lipped on future of Sears brands

Fashion retail group Arcadia has refused to reveal design strategy plans for a number of former Sears brands, acquired as part of its £151m acquisition of the womenswear group.

The takeover sees Arcadia owning the Richards, Warehouse, Wallis, Miss Selfridge and Outfit brands. The group has announced plans to redevelop 52 Richards outlets and close the remaining 75 stores.

It also intends to expand the number of Wallis outlets in the UK from 216 to 270, while Warehouse will get 50 more stores in addition to its existing 95 outlets. There was no word on who will carry out store redesigns as Design Week went to press, or whether any of the remaining chains will be rebranded.

An Arcadia spokeswoman says, “It is far too early to say what will happen. We are not going to come in and change them overnight, but we will look at them. There will certainly be no changes in the immediate future, if at all.”

Several design consultancies have carried out work on the Sears brands in the past, the most recent being 20/20 Design and Strategy Consultants, which created a new identity for Wallis last summer.

In 1996 Fitch was commissioned to create a new identity and interiors for the Richards chain.

London design group John Herbert Partnership last did work for Miss Selfridge in 1995, but says it has not been approached about working on possible redesigns.

Arcadia owns several other womenswear brands, including Dorothy Perkins, Racing Green, Evans and Top Shop.