Daily Newsletter

17 June 2024

Daily Newsletter

17 June 2024

Retailer Aphrodite to close shortly after Frasers Group acquisition

Sunderland-based Aphrodite is closing just months after Frasers Group acquired the independent UK menswear retailer.

Rachel Lawler June 17 2024

The Aphrodite website, previously Aphrodite1994.com, now redirects consumers to the Flannels site, which is a luxury retailer also owned by Frasers Group.

Writing on LinkedIn, Aphrodite’s e-commerce manager Mark Logan said the Aphrodite website had “ceased trading”.

Frasers Group declined to comment but it did confirm to Just Style in April that it had acquired the retailer.

Founded in 1994, Aphrodite ran a store in Sunderland, UK but had also sold clothing globally through its website since 2007. The retailer sold menswear from brands including Paul Smith, Commes des Garcons, The North Face, Polo Ralph Lauren and Barbour.

The closure of Aphrodite follows shortly after the collapse of luxury online retailer Matches in March 2024, which came just a few months after Frasers Group purchased the retailer in a £52m ($65.8m) deal in December 2023.

In a statement at the time, Frasers Group said Matches had “continued to make material losses” despite Frasers Group’s support and the brand’s management team attempting to find ways to “stabilise” the online clothing platform.

At the time, Alice Price, apparel analyst at GlobalData, said the news suggested Frasers had underestimated the scale of investment and time required to turnaround the Matches business.

In April 2024, Frasers Group announced plans to acquire Dutch sports retailer Twin Sport Holding, with ambitions to become the “number one” sports retailer in Europe.

Luxury Apparel Market Overview

Per GlobalData, the luxury apparel market was valued at $201.6 billion in 2023 and will grow at a CAGR of >5% during 2023-2028. While macroeconomic difficulties in Western Europe and North America will impact luxury demand in the short term, countries in APAC and Eastern Europe will continue to emerge as burgeoning economies.

Luxury Apparel Market Overview

Per GlobalData, the luxury apparel market was valued at $201.6 billion in 2023 and will grow at a CAGR of >5% during 2023-2028. While macroeconomic difficulties in Western Europe and North America will impact luxury demand in the short term, countries in APAC and Eastern Europe will continue to emerge as burgeoning economies.

Luxury Apparel Market Overview

Per GlobalData, the luxury apparel market was valued at $201.6 billion in 2023 and will grow at a CAGR of >5% during 2023-2028. While macroeconomic difficulties in Western Europe and North America will impact luxury demand in the short term, countries in APAC and Eastern Europe will continue to emerge as burgeoning economies.

Luxury Apparel Market Overview

Per GlobalData, the luxury apparel market was valued at $201.6 billion in 2023 and will grow at a CAGR of >5% during 2023-2028. While macroeconomic difficulties in Western Europe and North America will impact luxury demand in the short term, countries in APAC and Eastern Europe will continue to emerge as burgeoning economies.

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