A shop unit that sat empty after one of Britain’s best-known high street names collapsed has a new tenant, and it says a good deal about where physical retail is heading.
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear and swimwear label Skims has opened its first standalone UK store on Regent Street, taking the 12,000 sq ft former Ted Baker flagship at 245-247 on a ten-year lease with landlord The Crown Estate.
The brand, valued at $4billion (£3billion) after a 2023 funding round, celebrated its grand opening today, with shoppers queuing for its bestselling styles. It marks Skims’ first international flagship and its first permanent standalone shop in the UK, having previously traded here only through pop-ups and concessions.
For UK business owners, the detail worth noting is not the celebrity. It is the commitment. A digitally native brand that could sell perfectly well online has signed a decade-long lease on one of the country’s most expensive retail streets, betting real money that a bricks-and-mortar presence still earns its keep.
That the unit was Ted Baker’s makes the point sharper. The British label fell into administration last year and closed its remaining UK stores, leaving prime space dark. Watching an American challenger fill it is a reminder that a struggling incumbent and a healthy high street are not the same thing. Location still commands a premium when the offer is right.
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