What Central Owners Group purchase of Selfridges means for the retailer?

The shadow of recession doesn’t seem to be holding back Selfridges as they venture into a new partnership deal.

Thai retail giant Central Group and Singa Holding have completed their acquisition of UK retailer Selfridges, marking the end of the 19-year-long contract with the billionaire Weston family. The 4 billion pound deal brings the number of luxury department stores owned by Central Group to a colossal 40.

There is no doubt that this change comes at a period of immense disruption for Selfridges, as the retailer also aims to have half of transactions based on resale, repair, rental or refills by 2030. Its a truly exciting venture, and one that has already been set in motion- British fashion rental platform HURR has already secured a permanent space in the Oxford Street Store, whilst Oxfam’s Second-hand September has emerged as a prominent concept within the retailers calendar. Considering that the second-hand market is set to grow faster than fast fashion in the coming years, Selfridge's strategy seems to be one inivisioned for the long run.

Yet Selfridges has no desire to slow down this growth plan, as chief executive officer Stefano Della Valle expressed: “Our strategy is not to stay only in capital cities with stores of 20, 30 or 50,000 square metres, but also to be present in second-tier cities or even small cities like St Gallen.” It seems that Central Group and Signa Holding believe consumer’s appetites for luxury stretch far beyond the big smoke.

Yet what would Carpe Denim like to see amidst this Selfridges shake up? Whilst the retailer has, in recent years, dabbled in immersive retail experiences, as seen through Jacquemus’ ‘Blue Room’ and their 2019 Vestaire Collective collaboration, more ultimately needs to be done to both elevate and differentiate the consumer experience. Maison Margiela’s recent Soho pop-up event which enabled consumers to create their own scented ‘memory' box is a stellar example of how retailers can harness an array of senses to deepen the customer experience. It seems that thinking ‘out of the box’ has never been more important in the retail sphere to ensure consumer buy-in.