George Davies
Retailer Spotlight: George Davies
Published: 27 August, 2009
GIVe, the latest fashion brand from serial entrepeneur George Davies, is set to open with a bang in malls across the country this autumn.
Sir Philip Green or Sir Stuart Rose might be seen by the media as the face of British fashion retailing. But one man has done more than any to change the look of the high street – and the way we dress. George Davies, founder of Next, George at Asda and Per Una, is about to unveil his fourth fashion business, GIVe.
In October the new brand will launch with stores in malls and on the high street; concessions in major department stores; and a serious commitment to internet retailing (represented by the ‘e’, for ‘e-commerce’). Fashion shows are planned across the country backed by a big advertising campaign around the theme of ‘affordable luxury.’
CBRE director Ciaran Bird is handling the store acquisition programme. He says he has a list of 20 priority towns and cities that can deliver the affluent customer base Davies is targeting. “We’re in the same territory as Jigsaw and Reiss,” Bird says.
Some of the stores will be in prime city centre high streets, but malls are also on the agenda and Bird says sites have already been secured at Liverpool One, Cribbs Causeway, Meadowhall and Bluewater, where GIVe will trade in the aspirational lower west mall.
The typical store size will be 2,500 sq ft, and the initial roll-out will be measured. “We’ve already secured seven sites and we’ll see how it progresses,” says Bird. “But for now we’re not planning more than 20 standalone stores.”
So it’s not the size of the requirement that’s creating so much excitement as much as Davies’ personality and the desire to see some fresh blood injected into tenant line-ups that have been in danger of stagnating during the recession. “What George brings is his name and reputation,” says Bird. “He brings so much more to the party.”
So how has Davies become such an iconic figure and why, when he’s past retirement age, is he causing such a stir in the youth-obsessed fashion business?
After an abortive career as a footballer, Davies started his fashion career as a management trainee with Littlewoods, based in his native Liverpool, and he went on to run a schoolwear brand and the Pippa Dee fashion brand. But he first rose to prominence in 1981 when he was asked by J Hepworth & Sons to review its business.
Hepworths was a dowdy menswear chain but what excited Davies was the strong portfolio of well-located stores. He used these to launch a new national fashion brand, Next. Within four years the womenswear chain had been joined by Next for Men and Next Interiors, and in 1988 Davies bought the Grattan catalogue company and relaunched it as Next Directory.
But he left shortly after, following a boardroom coup, and two years later re-emerged at Asda where he launched the George clothing line. This was the first serious step by a British grocer into fashion and general merchandise, and it promised fast fashion at rock-bottom prices. By 2000, George was a £600m-a-year brand but Asda had been bought by Wal-Mart and Davies moved on again, just before Wal-Mart introduced George clothing into its US stores.
He re-emerged shortly after with his own brand, Per Una, to be sold exclusively through Marks & Spencer stores. Just as with Next, Davies gained instant exposure on the high street, while M&S was able to inject some pizzazz into a tired product range.
In 2004 he sold Per Una to M&S for £125m, as the company struggled to beat off an unwelcome bid by Philip Green. Some of that cash is now being reinvested in GIVe, and with a track record like that nobody is betting against Davies succeeding for a fourth time.
