Richard Hyman: Home is an expensive distraction for fashion retailers

Asos plates

As a throng of fashion retailers push into homewares, retail expert Richard Hyman argues they are chasing fool’s gold and should stick to the knitting.

Every man and his dog have added a home offer to their core proposition of late, particularly fashion retailers.

Over the past 18 months, River Island, Asos, Oasis and Matches have all launched homewares collection, while H&M has opened a Regent Street flagship store devoted to the category.

So many retailers seem to think that because they are good at selling apparel, adding a home offer is an easy diversification that will yield straightforward incremental sales and profits.

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