Brooks Brothers sold for $325m

Brooks Brothers, one of the oldest fashion brands in America, has been given a new lease of life after a consortium of buyers snapped it up.

The retailer collapsed into bankruptcy protection last month after two centuries of selling its formal shirts, dresses and suites to the masses.

A clothing licensing firm, Authentic Brands, and shopping centre owner Simon Property Group together paid $325m (£249m) for the assets and vowed to keep 125 of its stores open.

Brooks Brothers has about 200 shops in North America. It was set up in 1818 as a family business in New York.

Like many of its retail peers on both sides of the pond, the company has struggled with the recent shift towards casualwear – a trend compounded by the rise of working from home during the pandemic.

The new owners have pounced on other distressed brands, often after they have filed for bankruptcy, and shed their unprofitable branches. They now own hundreds of Aéropostale, Forever 21 and Nautica shops.

In the UK, many retailers have been bearing the brunt of the slump in consumer spend during lockdown.

The recent heatwave and shoppers still working from home has also meant there is much less demand for work clothes or shoes.

This week department store Debenhams cut a further 2,500 store and warehouse roles, taking the total number of redundancies in retail to 25,000 since the crisis began.