Not to mourn the end of Top Shop if it happens

[nosswith]

Sympathy for staff and the loss of any jobs. However, Philip Green is a very nasty person and I will shed no tears for him. Indeed if I ever had ten minutes with Prince Albert of Monaco, I would suggest to him that banishing Mr Green from Monaco would be the best thing he could ever do.

They couldn't compete with Boohoo and the like, and one of the reasons is that they have more staff, being paid better, and high street rents, rates etc to pay. That was a good thing! The reason Boohoo is so cheap is that the clothes are produced for 20p a garment by workers who work in terrible conditions and then there's no cost of retail, it's just a website and a warehouse (I am aware topshop et al aren't much better in their sourcing of garments, but at least their workers get the minimum wage in store).

This is a tragedy for the people who work there and also for the knock-on effect it will have on the high street, other retailers, restaurants, rates paid to councils, etc. I've not even the tiniest fuck to give for Philip Green, but it's not something to celebrate.

Thanks op, you've just reminded me to get my finger out and send my Dorothy Perkins returns back. I'm doing it now before it's too late!

People working in Primark, H and M etc. must be getting at least the minimum wage and their clothes are much cheaper.

I used to love Topshop back in the day but I am not its target audience now and it doesn’t seem to have much to offer those who are. My 14 year old says it’s too expensive, some of the things are ok but no different to what you can buy cheaper in other shops. The quality of the clothes is probably nothing to write home about either.

Bit puzzled at the notion that all the other residents of Monaco would see Sir Philip as exceptional in an adverse way. The few I know secured their wealth in grizzly ways.

I don’t understand why he doesn’t bail the business out himself, being a billionaire.

Last time I was in Topshop I was shocked at how expensive it was. Not like waaaaaay back in my day!

@tectonicplates

The likes of H and M, Cos, Monki, Uniqlo Zara are producing what people want. I don’t see much difference between DP/Wallis and Primark, except Primark is cheaper.

Only if you're of average height. The difference is that Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis all make petite and tall ranges. If Arcadia closed down, it would be an absolute disaster for petite and tall women.

H&M and Zara are terrible shops for petite women, especially Zara. All their tops look like tunics. Same with Primark.

true, i was using DP for most of my tall needs (long tall sally quite expensive/older) and next just NEVER looked correct on me.

So I shall miss DP if it goes.

Bevelino, how many billionaires became wealthy through giving money away or losing money or 'paying back'?

What happened to BHS when it looked like it might cost more than it would earn/had excess liabilities? Was it sold for a £1?

Philip green personifies everything wrong with the world.

Poor staff

What ever you think of Green 15,000 jobs are at risk. Much better to work in the public sector.

If a shop closes because customers are moving to other shops, that's no big deal, the staff can go and work there. But if other shops are closing too and there are no jobs for these workers, then that's very sad news and we should care about it.

Not a fan of Philip Green, but if no one buys it my daughter will lose her job

@Anotherdayanothernewname

I hope things get sorted out for you. I can't see brands like these just disappearing

The reason Boohoo is so cheap is that the clothes are produced for 20p a garment by workers who work in terrible conditions and then there's no cost of retail, it's just a website and a warehouse

Also, they pay no business rates, a huge slice of revenue for the government, and a big advantage to on-line retailers.
I think they should tax online businesses more, they do in Germany to protect the high street.

I don't like Phillip Green but I would be sad to see Topshop go, they are still one of my favourite clothing brands and god help us all if that trash company Boohoo acquire them.

@MaryLennoxsScowl

Topshop used to be my favourite shop - the clothes were cooler than equivalently priced shops such as Zara and Warehouse, with better fabrics and fit than those. That was at least ten years ago. Now they’ve cheapened the fabric and cut, and the style isn’t as modern as Zara or some of H&M but it’s still more expensive than them even though they’re now using polyester for everything. I used to spend a day wandering round all the shops and going back to Topshop as it had the nicest version of whatever I was looking for, but not now. The website is awful too - cheap and tacky and really crap photography.

This. Everything feels so cheap, and thus overpriced for what it is. And it all feels very geared to a certain audience, with a certain body type. If you're not a rail thin teenager with a tiny bust and a perfectly flat stomach, it's not for you anymore. It's all imitation 90s crop tops with mom jeans and joggers, or comically oversized stuff that looks endearingly drapey and waif-like on a size six but just plain frumpy on anyone else.

I feel like the middle section of the high street has just disappeared. Stuff that was good quality and relatively classic, but actually cool to wear, as Topshop used to be, seems to have disappeared. Now it's all polyester crap. You can pay £15 for a faux leather jacket in Primark, or £50 for the same thing in Topshop, or £200 for "vegan leather" in &OtherStories, or go the full hog and pay £400 for real leather at All Saints. I'm struggling to see the real difference between anything but the highest and lowest ends of the scale. Ditto for polyester and acrylic blend jumpers, or denim jeans.

Top shop is hideously over priced for what it is. I remember back in the day there was a HUGE underground Top Shop at Oxford Circus. As a teen I could afford to shop there. Now as an adult I can't afford it, especially not with the materials and cut.

@Meraas

Only if you're of average height. The difference is that Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis all make petite and tall ranges. If Arcadia closed down, it would be an absolute disaster for petite and tall women.

I agree with this, more companies need petite ranges.

Agree with these comments 100%. Topshop petite Joni jeans are the only ones I've found that fit me properly. I've never found a better alternative and if they go I'll be genuinely gutted.

@contactusdeletus whilst not the main purpose of the thread, your comment about the 'middle section' of the high street is well made, I think both for women and indeed for men.

Just heard him on the radio asking the government for 30 million to keep the business afloat, fucking dip into your own pocket, greedy bastard.
I’m sorry for the staff, but Phillip Green is just an awful human being.

I don’t think the government will give him anything. Richard Branson tried this too and they told him to raid his own piggy bank.

@SoupDragon

I will mourn the end of Top Shop - I remember heading up to the huge store at Oxford Circus as a teen. Happy days!

Me too! It was a go too on every trip in central London. I used to enjoy looking at the vintage stuff on the bottom floor whilst waiting to meet up with people.

don't they also own Monsoon and the like?

I sometimes bought things from Wallis, as they have petite sizes along with places like Principles. Hope they don't all close - partly also because the more things that close on the high street, the harder it will be for all the other shops there. Things aren't taking over the empty shops; they just all sit empty for months or years.

And awful for so many staff and other workers.

Where is all the polyester going to go if Arcadia closes down?

M&S

Topshop used to be super cool when I was a teen and I would always raid their sales. It didn't always sell "trends" but sort of made their own trends. But then the clothes got weirder/shitter and more like PrettyLittleThing, but at outrageously expensive prices that were unaffordable to their target market (teens).

Rich teens go to designer shops/Jack Wills, more skint teens go to Primark or one of the many online companies. For young middle-class women, there is Zara, H&M, French Connection. There is just no place for Topshop anymore, they didn't keep up with their competition and rested on their reputation - which in this day and age can change in a second.