Asos Warehouse Outside Berlin Hit by Fire
LONDON — An Asos warehouse outside Berlin was hit by fire on Tuesday, damaging stock worth up to 6.25 million pounds, or $8.1 million.
The company confirmed the incident and said the fire was confined to one of the four rooms at the facility, which held up to 2 million items. The cost of the items is valued at 25 million pounds, or $32 million, and a quarter of the stock “could be compromised by fire and water damage.”
No one was injured by the fire, which broke out at 3 a.m., and a cause is yet to be identified.
This is the third time Asos facilities are hit by fire, slowing down operations. In December 2005, there was a fire at its warehouse in Hemel Hempstead, just outside London, and the retailer wasn’t fully operational for a month following the event. In June 2014, a fire broke out at the company’s Barnsley facility in South Yorkshire, damaging stock worth 20 million pounds and causing the suspension of orders.
The incident in Germany is of less impact. The British high-street retailer said in a statement that it plans to redirect orders to its U.K. warehouse in Barnsley, while the three rooms in the Berlin facility that were not affected by the fire quickly went back to operating later in the day.
There were no additional damages to equipment or technology in the building.
Damages of the stock will be fully covered by insurance. “We are fully insured for loss of stock and any subsequent business interruption,” said a company spokesperson.
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