Why Flannels is banking on beauty and bricks and mortar

On Monday (19 July), Frasers Team-owned Flannels opened a new flagship retail store in Sheffield’s Meadowhall Browsing Centre. The 55,000 sq ft retail store stocks women’s, men’s and kid’s wear and accessories.

It also includes the 1st Flannels Elegance Area – the chain’s 1st foray into splendor. The space includes interactive, personal areas identified as “splendor altering rooms” wherever consumers can experiment with diverse merchandise.

Jack Bridges, imaginative marketing consultant at Flannels, talks Drapers by means of the store’s thought and the value of investing in bricks and mortar.

How does this retail store stand out from other Flannels outlets?

This retail store marks the introduction of splendor – a new classification for us. We have been in a position to perform with a larger sized area that has offered splendor manufacturers the possibility to showcase their item, while not dominating the full retail store, so that Flannels can continue to have its very own DNA. The larger sized-retail store [format] has not only aided showcase the splendor factor, but other aspects, also – for illustration, we have been in a position to unfold the possible for men’s tailoring in this retail store.

How did you guarantee that splendor stood out, but did not dominate?

We did so a lot exploration on splendor retailing. We went to New York and Paris, and seemed at how splendor was becoming sold across the globe. Essentially, we did not want to stick to the typical model – we desired to obtain a hybrid that focused on versatile areas [that can be modified, and moved all-around and focused to diverse manufacturers and collections at diverse situations], wherever manufacturers can be effortlessly pivoted. This enables us to frequently build a new retail atmosphere.

How have you built the new retail store original, without having shedding sight of the Flannels manufacturer?

With all of our outlets, irrespective of the locale, we get fantastic pleasure in making them all completely exceptional. However, there are some main products and finishes, such as concrete, which we like to use across all our outlets.

For us, in Meadowhall it was about owning a men’s and women’s department on two diverse flooring. To differentiate among the categories, we have applied a selection of marble flooring in diverse patterns, so when you stroll by means of into diverse sections, it tends to make you feel like you are in a diverse retail store fully.

Why is it essential to commit in bricks-and-mortar outlets in present-day retail atmosphere?

There is usually a place for it. When we started off to dive into splendor and other categories, we recognised that owning a retail store existence is vital. However, we did not want to existing splendor in its classic, stagnant format. We wanted to evolve and existing customers with a diverse way of accessing these merchandise – it wanted shaking up a bit.

From a vogue and eyewear point of view, owning a actual physical retail store offers men and women with the atmosphere to touch and feel merchandise and interact with manufacturers. That is essential and there will usually be a place for it.

What are your strategies for long run thought outlets at Flannels?

This retail store has offered us the possibility to explore new categories and increase existing kinds [such as splendor and men’s tailoring, womenswear] in depth and build a lot more experiences in retail store, which we will appear at continuing [Flannels has committed to opening a a hundred and twenty,000 sq ft retail store in Liverpool, an additional flagship in Leicester and then 10 a lot more outlets by 2025] . It is seriously essential that, when we get to outlets of this scale, customers never have a linear journey. We have have to build these moments inside the retail store that make every classification stand out.

We like to appear at these outlets and split them down into a series of rooms and experiences, regardless of whether that is differentiated by means of end, cloth or decoration. It is usually essential that each individual solitary area in the retail store has a alter of speed, which presents the purchaser a selection diverse experiences in our outlets.