Such was the buzz around Harvey Nichols in its 90s heyday that the department store was regularly name-checked in Absolutely Fabulous, with Edina and Patsy\u2019s frequent retail therapy trips to the store reflecting its position at the heart of the fashion industry at the time.<\/p>\n
How times change. These days Harvey Nichols is a business in trouble, one that has not turned a profit since the pandemic. Pre-tax losses were \u00a335.3m in 2024. The retail chain \u2013 comprising the the original store in Knightsbridge, London, plus stores in cities including Bristol, Leeds and Manchester \u2013 was put up for sale in June by its current owner, Sir Dickson Poon, with Mike Ashley\u2019s Frasers Group<\/a> and Next bidding to take control.<\/p>\n Ashley commented this week that Harvey Nichols is in what he called \u201ca death spiral\u201d. Speaking to the Financial Times<\/a> about his potential bid, he said taking it over would be a \u201chuge challenge\u201d. Harvey Nichols is reported to be seeking \u00a350m-\u00a360m for the business, while Ashley said he thought the figure would be closer to \u00a340m in order for a deal to happen.<\/p>\n All that is a far cry from the 90s, when Tony Glenville, who worked as a fashion journalist at the time, recalls: \u201cIt was glamorous. It had the marvellous bar up on the fifth floor so the whole thing was that you went shopping and you had a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n Thirty years on, retail experts suggest that, if not a death spiral, the store no longer has the same cachet. \u201cIt\u2019s a brand that has lost its identity,\u201d says Jonathan De Mello, founder of JDM Retail Consulting. \u201cIt\u2019s very similar to other department stores in the sense that it provides fashion that you can get from Selfridges or Harrods. It\u2019s not got the point of difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as Edina and Patsy in the Absolutely Fabulous. Photograph: Photo 12\/Alamy<\/p>\n Harvey Nichols was founded in 1831, as a linen shop, with the current department store in Knightsbridge following in 1889. It was taken over by Debenhams in 1920 and became part of the Burton Group in 1985, with Poon purchasing the retailer six years later and beginning its expansion outside London with a Leeds opening in 1996. \u201cIt was always changing,\u201d remembers Glenville. \u201cIf a designer came along and was hot that season, they would immediately want to be in Harvey Nichols and Harvey Nichols would then stock them.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast forward three decades and other stores have come for this territory, with London\u2019s Dover Street Market and Selfridges more likely destinations for emerging brands. De Mello argues, however, that there could still be mileage in this strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a strong design forward focus \u2026 and they need to do more [of that],\u201d he says. \u201cIf you can\u2019t get [a brand] anywhere else and you have to go to Harvey Nichols, then it becomes something interesting again. At the moment, you walk past it and say \u2018Why bother going in?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n However, De Mello says Harvey Nichols\u2019s digital presence needs work. \u201cThe majority of retailers that succeed in today\u2019s marketplace do so with a variety of different channels to interface with the consumer,\u201d he argues. \u201cSo they can essentially experience the brand wherever they might be or whatever they might be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n If digital is still a work in progress, Harvey Nichols has attempted to revive its bricks and mortar offering recently, particularlyits Knightsbridge store. Julia Goddard, previously at Alexander McQueen, has been chief executive since 2024, with highly respected fashion editor Kate Phelan becoming creative director.<\/p>\n The Harvey Nichols Christmas shop window display in Leeds city centre. Photograph: Richard Saker\/The Observer<\/p>\n A 2025 redesign put high-end jewellery on the ground floor and added new designers and curated objects. In a press release, Phelan described it as a \u201cstatement of intent. We\u2019re creating an experience that feels relevant, exciting and, above all, individual. This is just the beginning of what\u2019s to come.\u201d The retailer declined to comment for this article.<\/p>\n Buzz-wise, Glenville believes the team should remain in place whoever buys the retailer, and given time to turn things around. \u201cThe [recent] windows<\/a> with the illustrations were absolutely great,\u201d he says \u201c[but] I think they weren\u2019t sure what to follow that with. It\u2019s unfortunate that anything takes time. You can\u2019t do it all in five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n