Online fast fashion giant Boohoo revealed it is rebranding as Debenhams Group yesterday, and if that sounds like a blast from the past then that’s probably because the Manchester fast fashion pioneer rescued the struggling high street giant from administration four years ago.
At that time, Boohoo snapped up the retailer’s brand and website for £55m. Now, “Debenhams is back,” said Dan Finley, group chief executive officer. Debenhams includes the labels Wallis, Burton, Misspap, Coast, Oasis, Dorothy Perkins and Warehouse, which have been “successfully turned around”.
“The most exciting thing is that we are just getting started. We see a clear path to scaling this into a £multibillion GMV business with strong profitability,” added Finley.
The company excitedly added said Debenhams provides the “blueprint for the wider turnaround” of the group, thanks to its marketplace-led business model, proprietary technology and ‘lean’ operating model.
Boohoo’s own recent struggles are well documented – falling sales with for its youth brands, fraught relationships with suppliers, questions over its working practices and a bitter boardroom battle with majority shareholder Mike Ashleigh and his giant Frasers Group to name a few.
Writing in the Retail Gazette, retail expert Georgia Wright could clearly see a logic to the decision: “Brands like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing were once at the forefront, but now they’re struggling to capture attention in a world where trends are shifting rapidly, and price sensitivity is at an all-time high,” she noted.
But is a rebrand as a once-mighty UK retail giant that had seemingly already lost the interest of consumers when it collapsed four years ago the answer?
The North’s branding experts don’t seem entirely convinced.
Smoking Gun strategy director Hayley Peters concedes its a brave decision, but perhaps falls short of a panacea: “Boohoo’s rebrand is a bold move but it doesn’t address all of the retailer’s underlying issues,” she said.
“The challenge extends beyond just the business model. Boohoo is grappling with a significant brand perception problem which is compounded by shifting consumer behaviours that are impacting fast fashion.
“Boohoo must now establish what they truly stand for and their brand communications strategy will be crucial to this.
“One thing’s for certain: hiding behind the power of the Debenhams brand is not a silver bullet.”
Josh Wheeler at Be Broadcast also has some doubts over whether the new (old) name is really the new beginning the brand is looking for: “While the rebrand screams fresh start, big questions remain. Boohoo’s audience has evolved – its core demographic has aged and its fast fashion identity is beginning to fray.
“Then there’s Debenhams, a name that’s long been out of fashion, with lots of empty high street stores as a stark reminder of its collapse. It has elements of nostalgia – but not always for the right reasons.
“For this turnaround to really thread the needle, Boohoo must sew up past missteps and tailor its strategy to inject the energy that once stitched its success.
Are customers truly feeling the transformation, or is it just a glossy patch over an old brand? And has Debenhams re-knit its approach to sustainability to meet today’s demands? Ultimately, it’s not just a name – it’s the entire business identity at stake.
“BooHoo, PrettyLittleThing, and the like have been recent strong success stories in a way of brand Britain; losing that sparkle would actually be a bit of a shame.”
Ultimately, Wheeler noted: “Only time will tell if this high-stakes gamble can truly mend the seams.”
