Coast is a British women's clothing retail chain, founded in 1996. [1]
Coast was owned by Aurora Fashions, along with fashion brands Warehouse and Oasis. [2] Aurora in turn was owned by the Icelandic Kaupthing Bank, and had been in administration for some time, with the administrators looking for potential buyers, with a possible valuation of not more than £100 million for Coast, Warehouse, and Oasis reported in November 2016. [3] In April 2017, The Daily Telegraph reported that the three brands employ up to 5,000 people and were attracting interest from private equity, who would likely close some of the stores. [4] Retail Week speculated that the future for brands like Coast will be in department store concessions and online, rather than stand-alone stores. [5]
In 2016, Coast had a pre-tax profit of £1.3m, following a pre-tax loss of £10.8m in 2015. [4]
As of September 2017, they had 20 stand-alone stores in the UK, five in Ireland, two in Kuwait, and two in the UAE, as well as numerous in-house concessions in Beatties, Debenhams, House of Fraser and John Lewis. [6]
On 11 October 2018, Coast entered administration. Karen Millen, another British retailer, bought parts of the Coast brand, such as the website and concessions in department stores (including the transfer of 600 jobs to Karen Millen). The deal left 24 stores to close, including the flagship store on Oxford Street, and 300 employees without a job. [7]
Coast is now an online only retail business, with all retail shops and concession stands having been closed.
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, and is still operating as a franchise in seven Middle East countries. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. In its final years, its headquarters were within the premises of its flagship store in Oxford Street, London. The range of goods sold included middle-to-high-end clothing, beauty, household items, and furniture.
Next plc (styled as NEXT) is a British multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of which circa 500 are in the United Kingdom, and circa 200 across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Next is the largest clothing retailer by sales in the United Kingdom, having overtaken Marks & Spencer in early 2012 and 2014. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
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The Warehouse Group (TWG) was established by Stephen Tindall in 1982 and is the largest retail group in operation in New Zealand. It is a corporate conglomerate that comprises The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day, and TheMarket.
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AllSaints is a British fashion retailer headquartered in London, UK. AllSaints sells menswear, womenswear, footwear, and accessories in 281 stores, and has approximately 2,400 employees across 27 countries and regions including the UK, France, Ireland, USA, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China.
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HMV Ireland is an entertainment retailing company operated in Ireland by Hilco Capital Ireland. The first incarnation was first established by HMV Group Plc as part of their international expansion into Ireland and Canada in 1986. The first store in Ireland established was at HMV on Grafton Street in Dublin. HMV have announced their return to the Irish market, and a new store opened in Henry Street in Dublin in 30th June 2023.
Hobbs is a women’s clothing, footwear and accessories retailer based in London, UK. It was founded in Hampstead in 1981 and began as a shoe retailer. Hobbs now has stores across the United Kingdom, concession stores in the United States and Germany and franchise stores in Dubai and Sweden. The online store serves 55 countries worldwide. Hobbs is popularly associated with clothing priced in the mid range for a customer base that is largely middle-aged and older.
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