Mike Ashley has vowed to keep most of the 59 House of Fraser stores he purchased last week in a £90 million deal.
The Sports Direct (LON: SPD) owner said that he plans on keeping 47 of 59 House of Fraser stores open by converting larger stores into Sports Direct.
“In a year’s time you can hold my feet to the fire on that,” said Ashley in an interview with the Sun.
“Give us a chance and we will try to keep as many open as we can. We are here to get House of Fraser back to where it once was.”
Ashley shared plans to bring in “cool brands of the moment” to the House of Fraser stores.
“We think the biggest and most important thing House of Fraser is missing is luxury brands. We think it will make a big difference,” he said.
House of Fraser fell into administration last week before being bought by Ashley in a £90 million deal soon after. The department store employs 17,000 people in the UK.
Following the deal, there is growing speculation that Ashley will carry out a merger between Debenhams (LON: DEB) and House of Fraser. He has a 29.7 percent stake in the Debenhams.