“Topshop’s ability to deliver new, designer-inspired look to shelves within weeks of making their catwalk debut is something that will certainly strike a chord with our customers."

Topshop set for second Melbourne store as fast fashion retailers expand Down Under

By Nicola Trotman
Tuesday, 14 August 2012

British fashion giant Topshop is set for a new store at Highpoint Shopping Centre in early 2013.

The Highpoint location is the second Melbourne store for the iconic British brand, with its other Melbourne outlet on the Chapel Street strip in South Yarra.

GPT Group announced the leasing deal in its half-year results presentation yesterday.

“Topshop’s ability to deliver new, designer-inspired look to shelves within weeks of making their catwalk debut is something that will certainly strike a chord with our customers,” Matthew Faddy, head of asset management at GPT, says.

The Topshop/Topman co-location store in South Yarra opened in December last year, and the brand’s first Sydney store is set to open in October in the iconic Gowings building in the CBD after a $1.85 million fit-out.

Topshop is wholly owned by Phillip Green from the Arcadia Group and first existed in the basement of a Peter Robinson department store in 1964.

The first stand-alone Topshop opened in 1974, and the brand has now expanded to a whopping 750-plus stores across 32 countries.

The flagship store located in Oxford Circus, London, attracts more than 200,000 shoppers a week.

Topman was created as a spin-off to cater for male customers and is run as a separate chain, although some stores are co-located, including South Yarra’s Topshop/Topman.

It is an exciting time for Melbourne and Sydney residents, who previously had to purchase collections and outfits online.

The online store topshop.com began in 2000 updating the clothes straight off American and British catwalks that have not yet landed in Australian stores.

Topshop is not the only offshore brand to make its mark in Australia, with international brand ZARA recently opening its second Melbourne store on Bourke Street (the brand had an outlet in Chadstone), along with its Pitt Street mall, Sydney, outlet.

Fashion giants H&M and Forever 21 are also rumoured to be scouting locations Down Under.