Existing designs for Arcadia plan

Fashion retailing group Arcadia has ruled out any store redesigns after announcing plans to close all its Principles for Men and Top Man shops as part of its BrandMAX programme.

Under the group restructure, 400 existing stores will be closed as Arcadia places more focus on womenswear, increasing store space from 63 per cent to 77 per cent for brands targeted at the women’s market.

“This programme is more about moving the property portfolio around and there won’t be lots of redesigns or refits,” says an Arcadia spokeswoman.

“Design groups which we work with on a regular basis will be working on implementing the current designs.

“We are also speaking to other consultancies which work on the brands that are being cut, about our relationships with them going forward,” she says.

According to last week’s interim results for the group, brands such as Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Top Shop have “consistently outperformed [competitors in] the marketplace”, and there has been “significant performance improvement” for Miss Selfridge since the chain joined Arcadia as part of the Sears acquisition last year. Wallis also remains a “strong and profitable” brand.