The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2025
River Island's Gulf franchise died because most of its stores lived inside Debenhams
Alshaya ran River Island in the Gulf mostly inside Debenhams. When Debenhams went online-only, the franchise had too little standalone volume to survive.
River Island · 2025-11-26
What happened
River Island, the British fashion chain, entered the Middle East through a franchise with Kuwait's Alshaya Group. Unlike Debenhams, which anchored Gulf malls for nearly three decades, River Island operated mostly as shop-in-shop concessions inside Debenhams department stores, with a handful of standalone branches.
In 2025 Debenhams' Gulf franchise began winding down as its UK owner aligned the international arm with an online-only model. As Debenhams stores closed one by one, River Island lost the floorspace where most of its Middle East business happened.
On 26 November 2025 River Island and Debenhams posted farewell messages on Instagram, since deleted, offering discounts of up to 75%. River Island's stores in the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar would close before the end of the year.
A source close to the matter told Drapers the decision to close the River Island franchise was made independently of the restructuring affecting River Island's UK business — the Middle East shops simply no longer had enough standalone volume to be viable.
Why it happened
- River Island's Gulf presence was structurally dependent on Debenhams' floorspace — most of its outlets were concessions inside another franchise, so it inherited every closure of that franchise.
- When Debenhams went online-only in the region, the few standalone River Island stores left could not carry the fixed costs of running a Gulf franchise.
- The brand's UK struggles and its Gulf exit were separate decisions, which means the franchise was judged on its own numbers — and those numbers were built on borrowed floorspace.
The lesson
A shop inside someone else's shop is not a store — it is a dependency. River Island's Gulf business was a tenant of a tenant; when the landlord's franchise died, the concession had nowhere to stand.
Aftermath
River Island's Middle East franchise closed before the end of 2025. Closing sales of up to 75% ran across the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, and the farewell posts were removed from Instagram shortly after they appeared. The brand continued operating in the UK, where a court-approved restructuring had already closed 33 stores earlier in the year.
Sources
- Drapers — River Island to close its Middle East franchise
- Retail Gazette — River Island to exit Middle East
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