Fund manager Hermes has bought the lease of Austin Reed’s flagship store at 100 Regent Street, W1.
Hermes was already the long-leaseholder. The Crown Estate is the freeholder.
Hermes can now relet the 23,500 sq ft shop as a flagship, or split it into multiple units. It has already attracted interest from domestic and international retailers.
Administrators to Austin Reed, which collapsed in April, put the lease up for sale through GCW with a £10m asking price. Austin Reed’s remaining 120 stores will close by the end of the month after no viable offers were received for the business.
Austin Reed was paying £2.9m pa in rent for the Regent Street shop, making it its largest and most valuable asset.
Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill has bought the Austin Reed brand and five concession shops at Boundary Mill outlet villages in the north of England.
The vacated Austin Reed shops are likely to appeal to retailers including White Stuff, White Company and Space NK, as well as coffee shops such as Caffè Nero and Costa, and mobile phone shops.
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