Edinburgh Woollen Mills, which owned the chain, went into administration last year after accruing millions of pounds worth of debt.
According to the Financial Times, M&S has bought the Jaeger brand but the deal does not include any of its 67 stores.
In a short statement, Richard Price, managing director of M&S’s clothing and home division, said: ‘We have bought the Jaeger brand and are in the final stages of agreeing the purchase of product and supporting marketing assets from the administrators of Jaeger Retail Ltd.’
Next door to the fashion chain’s St Helier store is the already vacant Austin Reed shop – which closed in 2016 – and which is also part of the EWM group. Plans were recently submitted to convert it into a restaurant but no further details have been released.
The future of another EWM brand in town – budget fashion chain Peacocks, which opened downstairs in Co-op Grand Marché in October – remains uncertain.
Meanwhile, online clothing giant ASOS has expressed an interest in buying the Topshop brand amid a sell-off of the assets of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group, which went into administration in November. The chain has an outlet in King Street. However, as a digital business, ASOS is reportedly not interested in buying the brand’s physical stores.
Arcadia also owns Burton and Dorothy Perkins – both of which have stores in St Helier. Their future is also uncertain.
However, there was some good news on the retail front recently, when work to convert the former USC store in King Street into a Flannels and Sports Direct began. USC has now moved into the former Next premises in Queen Street, which had been vacant since 2017.
