The Evans brand will continue to trade online, following news today of its sale to plus-size specialist City Chic for about £23m.
Arcadia administrators Deloitte announced the sale of the plus-size brand’s ecommerce and wholesale business to the City Chic Collective this morning – and said that there was also “significant” interest in all of the group’s brands.
City Chic Collective is a collective of omnichannel brands specialising in plus-size women’s clothing, footwear and accessories. The City Chic brand sells through 96 shops in New Zealand and Australia, and websites in Australia, New Zealand and the US. It also sells via US marketplaces and supplies its goods to US and UK retailers. The collective’s other brands include online-only Hips & Curves, which trades in the US, and Avenue, which trades primarily online in the US.
Once the deal completes – currently expected to take place on December 23 – Evans, founded in 1930, will operate alongside them. Evans, currently ranked Top150 in RXUK Top500 research, will trade primarily as an ecommerce business since the sale does not include its shops. In the financial year to August 20, the website had 19m visits and made sales worth about £23m. Sales in the wholesale arm of the business came to about £3m. Currently, the website is offering discounts of up to 60% on sale items and of up to 30% on everything.
Evans currently has five standalone stores in the UK employing about 25 people, which will continue to trade, where permitted under Covid-19 regulations, despite not being included in today’s sale.
Arcadia went into administration at the end of November, putting 13,000 jobs at risk and its eight brands – Topshop, Top Man, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridges, Outfit and Wallis – up for sale. All continue to trade while buyers are found.
