Coast (clothing)
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Coast is a British women's clothing
retail chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...
, founded in 1996. Coast was owned by
Aurora Fashions Aurora Fashions was a holding company of several retail fashion brands, formed in 2009 to purchase a number of businesses from the collapsed Mosaic Fashions. The company operates over 1,250 stores in 38 countries, including franchises, under the ...
, along with fashion brands
Warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
and Oasis. Aurora in turn was owned by the Icelandic
Kaupthing Bank Kaupthing Bank ( is, Kaupþing banki; ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic ...
, and had been in administration for some time, with the administrators looking for potential buyers, with a possible valuation of not more than £100 million for Coast, Warehouse, and Oasis reported in November 2016. In April 2017, ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' reported that the three brands employ up to 5,000 people and were attracting interest from
private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
, who would likely close some of the stores. ''
Retail Week Retail Week is a London-based news website, data service, events producer and magazine covering the retail industry, primarily in the United Kingdom. History and profile Founded in 1988 by financial journalist Patience Wheatcroft and her husban ...
'' speculated that the future for brands like Coast will be in department store concessions and online, rather than stand-alone stores. In 2016, Coast had a pre-tax profit of £1.3m, following a pre-tax loss of £10.8m in 2015. As of September 2017, they had 20 stand-alone stores in the UK, five in Ireland, two in Kuwait, and two in the UAE, as well as numerous in-house concessions in
Beatties Beatties was a small British department store group located primarily in the Midlands of England. In 2005, when it had 12 stores, the group was acquired by House of Fraser. On 14 January 2006, the Birmingham store closed, because a similar Ho ...
,
Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...
,
House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...
and
John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
.


Administration and sale

On 11 October 2018, Coast entered
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
.
Karen Millen Karen Millen is a British online women's clothing retailer specialising in tailoring, coats and evening wear. Formerly a high street chain with stores throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Indonesia, Austria, Denmark, Russia, the Republ ...
, another British retailer, bought parts of the Coast brand, such as the website and concessions in department stores (including the transfer of 600 jobs to Karen Millen). The deal left 24 stores to close, including the flagship store on
Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
, and 300 employees without a job. Coast is now an online only retail business, with all retail shops and concession stands having been closed.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coast British brands British companies established in 1996 Clothing companies established in 1996 Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1996