Harold Tillman buys Allders flagship
Croydon store acquired by Jaeger owner
Fashion entrepreneur Harold Tillman has rescued the Allders name by buying the collapsed department store group’s flagship store in Croydon, Surrey.
Tillman, chairman of clothing retailer Jaeger, has bought the lease of the store from administrators Kroll. The deal will safeguard 500 jobs and see the store carry on trading under the Allders brand. Kroll said the deal meant all Allders stores had either been sold on, closed down or handed back to their landlords.
Tillman’s associate Andrew MacKenzie, who worked with him on a buyout of a division of clothing group William Baird, will run the store.
Tillman said: “Allders has a great history, is a household name on the UK high street and is one of the most recognisable retail brands in the country with a lot of goodwill from consumers.”
The value of the deal was not revealed. Allders went into administration in January after the Scarlett Retail management team, which took over the group in 2003 with the backing of property company Minerva, failed to reverse a long-term sales decline.
Minerva still owns the freehold of Croydon store, one of the biggest department stores in the country, afyer buying it from Allders after the Scarlett acquisition. That leaves a longer term question over the future of the store.
Minerva is known to have hoped to attract a higher profile tenant such as John Lewis to the site, which forms part of its planned Park Place retail development in the town.
