House of Fraser could leave high streets for good
Frasers Group CEO Michael Murray has said his vision for the retail giant could see House of Fraser disappear from the high street.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Murray said the model for House of Fraser was ‘broken’ when it was acquired and that he plans to move away from the traditional department store model.
He added: ‘We’ve completely changed the operating model. It was mostly concession, the stores were way too big, they were under-invested. Most department stores could broadly take the same turnover out of half the space”.
Murray instead hopes to grow smaller stores branded as ‘Frasers’ which has already opened in eight locations. Bosses say these new stores will focus on selling Fraser’s own brands, straying further from the original business model.
Remaining House of Fraser stores are planned to be used for multiple businesses, with Sports Direct on the top floors and Frasers on the lower levels.
Murray claims this provides a solution to landlords as they can offer affordable rates while keeping Frasers name on the high street.