Selfridges sale completes, giant European group created, Stefano Della Valle is CEO

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Aug 21, 2022

Thailand’s Central Group and Austria-based Signa Holding have completed the acquisition of luxury retailer Selfridges Group from the Weston Family and it’s now being integrated into their wider operations. 

The Selfridges portfolio (Britain’s Selfridges itself plus Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands)  will be integrated with Central and Signa's combined existing portfolio of 22 luxury department stores and the two new stores that will open soon in Dusseldorf and Vienna. It means the group is now part of a conglomerate that includes Central’s Rinascente in Italy and Illum in Denmark, as well as the Central-Signa jointly owned KaDeWe, Oberpollinger, and Alsterhaus in Germany, and Globus in Switzerland.

Stefano Della Valle, CEO of Central and Signa’s luxury department store group in Europe, will expand his role and will lead Selfridges Group. This means current Selfridges MD Anne Pitcher will “as already planned” stay in the leadership team “until the end of the year to ensure a smooth integration into the newly formed group”.

Central’s CEO and executive chairman Tos Chirathivat and Signa chairman Dieter Berninghaus will co-chair the group.

In a joint statement they said that they’re “long-term investors with a well-established partnership and shared vision to reshape and reinvent the luxury retail industry. We are committed to create the world’s leading luxury omnichannel platform for all our customers through both online and offline channels. We are excited to meet and work with our new colleagues, as well as brand partners to achieve this vision.”