Tos Chirthivat, executive chair and chief executive of Central Group has outlined his plans for the department store.
Central Group bought Selfridges and a number of other luxury department stores in Europe as part of a £4bn deal in 2021.
Speaking to the Financial Times in his first interview since the sales, Tos admitted that the price was ‘too high’. He said: “Maybe 10 years from now it won’t be too high, but if you ask today, of course it’s too high.”
Since the purchase, Central Group has hired Andre Maeder, who previously ran KaDeWe as chief executive to focus on investment in the flagship store on Oxford Street.
Tos told the Financial Times: “The focus is to ‘rebuild’ the store. We have three good floors [of six]. We are working to improve every area, whether it’s new products, brands, services, food and beverage outlets.”
He said the grand plan for Selfridges was to become ‘the best store in the world’ and he admitted it is currently in the ‘top five’.
