The luxury department store chain owned by the Canadian Watson family has sold 18 of its 25 stores to a Thai retailer and an Austrian real estate company; “We will redesign the place in a modern way while preserving its architectural and cultural heritage”
The luxury chain of stores in the prestigious British Selfridges was sold for 4 billion pounds (about $ 5.4 billion) to the Austrian real estate company Signa and the Thai giant retailer Central Group. The sale includes 18 houses across the UK, including one of the most famous on the street Oxford in London. The two acquiring companies have already acquired second-hand chains in Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and Austria.
The Thai retail chain already has 3,700 stores worldwide. Australian Signa is the largest private property fund in Austria.
The Selfridges chain was founded at the turn of the last century by Harry Gordon and sold in 2003 to the Watson family from Canada for £ 600 million. “It’s an honor to acquire the Selfridge Group, including the flagship store on Oxford Street, London’s most famous store for about 100 years,” said Central Group manager Toss Chirathioatt.
Selfredige employs around 10,000 people and has 25 stores worldwide, including in the major cities of England, Thailand, the Netherlands and Canada. Only 18 of them will sell while the 7 stores in Canada will remain owned by the Watson family.
The new owners of the Everything in it chain have said that they intend to develop the existing brand in addition to luxury online stores and that they will work to improve the physical sites. “We will work with the world’s leading architects to sensitively redesign the stores in each location, thus turning these iconic spaces into modern, energetically efficient spaces and in accordance with existing principles while respecting their architectural and cultural heritage,” said Signa Dieter Barningaus chairman.
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