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Harvey Nichols used to be one of the most glamorous department stores in the world. But now the business has gone up for sale – and it looks as if only the retailer Next and Frasers Group – owned by Mike Ashley of Sports Direct fame – are bidding on it. There is nothing wrong with either company. But the lack of interest in one of London’s most iconic retailers is a sad sign of the city’s economic decline.
In its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, Harvey Nicks, as it was always known, was emblematic of the easy money, low-tax, globalised trading hub that London had become. Patronised by Princess Diana and popularised in the comedy series Absolutely Fabulous, it might have been a little brash. But it symbolised wealth and glamour. Under the ownership of the Hong Kong tycoon Sir Dickson Poon, it was one of the world’s swankest assets.
The big money has all been driven out of the capital
No more. After five years of losses, it is up for sale. We might expect the world’s luxury retailers, such as LMVH, to be fighting for ownership, along with a few Chinese billionaires, some Gulf royal families, and perhaps a tech giant or two. And yet, it turns out that with the deadline for bids approaching, only Next and Frasers have thrown their hats in the ring. No one else is interested.
