Topshop Report
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TOPSHOP- Nicky Schrader
Selection of Country — Australia (Currently stores in the UK, Europe and some Asian Pacific nations)
Top Shop — Women Clothing and accessories
TopShop currently export to Australia only through their online orders from their website and therefore would look to establish stores, franchises within Australia.
Core competencies of the business
At forefront of fashion at reasonable prices
Product description and target market
Topshop on top – gaps in Gap
Anonymous. Strategic Direction. Bradford: Feb 2005. Vol. 21, Iss. 2; pg. 24, 3 pgs
UK-based Topshop began as a small concession in 1964, and has since grown into a strong trading company with a 9.3 percent growth in sales in 2002. The target market is similar to that of Australian owned Sportgirl, aiming at a fashion conscious 15 to 25 age group, and the store boasts reasonable pricing and an infamously short catwalk-to-high-street-lead-time.
Topshop has been acclaimed for their quick response times to catwalk trends and celebrity fashion statements, thus enabling the brand to stock the leading fashion styles first at a high street price
History
Topshop was established in 1964 within a Sheffield department store called Peter Robinson, however, a year later, the same store allocated Topshop space in the basement of its Oxford Circus store in London. In 1974, Topshop was taken out of Peter Robinson and set up as a standalone retailer.
When Jane Shepherdson became Brand Director in 1999 her vision was to establish the brand as a fashion authority. Since then, Topshop has gone onto become one of fashions major success stories with over 309 fashion stores nationwide, including the worlds largest fashion store at Oxford Circus, which attracts over 200,000 shoppers each week!
In September 2005 Topshop showed its in-house design collection Unique (created in 2001) as part of the official London Fashion Week schedule and subsequently forged exclusive partnerships with international boutiques Opening Ceremony in New York, Colette in Paris and Tokyos 10 Corso Como Comme des Garcons. During summer 2006 Barneys in the US began retailing Topshops best selling Baxter jean in its flagship stores. Plans to expand internationally are also underway with stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg due to open in 2008.
The marketing directions of two fashion retailers
Andrew J Newman, Darshika Patel. European Journal of Marketing. Bradford: 2004. Vol. 38, Iss. 7; pg. 770
Topshop has adopted a below the line approach with slightly less aggressive techniques. Both brands are strong and well recognized in the high street. Retail location strategies are comparable and the store formats very similar. Topshop and Gap use a mix of boutique style and free-flow formats, which are customary for this type of retailer. Internal features and fittings, which help create store atmosphere, are therefore typical of those found in stores that focus on the younger fashion buyer. These layouts are an essential part of the retailer image as they can change shopping behaviour and customers