Vote now for Retailer of the Year
Published: 20 May, 2010
Which brand do you think has made the biggest contribution to UK shopping centres this year? Register your votes in the box on the right of this page.
Primark
The value fashion arm of Associated British Foods, Primark has grown out of its Irish home territory (where it trades as Penney’s) to operate 198 stores with 38 in Ireland, 139 in the UK, 15 in Spain, two each in Germany and Portugal and one each in the Netherlands and Belgium. Between them the stores generate revenues of over £2bn. The brand’s success is attributed to its keen pricing, made possible by its world-class supply chain
Republic
Multi-brand fashion retailer Republic has announced plans to open a further 12 stores in 2010, including a strategic move into the Irish market, as part of a strategy to double turnover in the next three years. During 2009 Republic opened 10 UK stores and relocated another two. And in the coming year it plans to keep up the momentum with another 12 new openings, including the first Irish store in Belfast. In the year to 31 January 2010 Republic beat forecasts with sales of more than £200m.
Cult/Superdry
SuperGroup Holdings, which trades under the Superdry and Cult fascias, is one of the UK’s fastestgrowing fashion businesses with sales growing at 27 per cent year-on-year. At the end of 2009 the group had 40 stores trading with another 20 to 25 planned to open during 2010. Its recession-busting performance reflects its concentration on the free-spending 18-34 demographic.
John Lewis Partnership
All of the group’s 70,000 permanent staff are partners who own 28 John Lewis department stores, one John Lewis at home store and 228 Waitrose supermarkets with a turnover of nearly £7.4bn last year. The development standstill has scuppered John Lewis’s plans to open at least one new department store a year, but it has proved its flexibility by launching John Lewis at Home, an out-of-town format that has already secured four sites.
Apple
From a standing start in 2001 the technology giant now operates 287 stores worldwide of which 27 are in the UK. The shopfit reflects the design standards of Apple’s products but they are about much more than retail: all Apple Stores feature a Genius Bar, where customers can receive technical advice or set up service and repair
for their products.
Hollister
Hollister is the diffusion brand of Abercrombie & Fitch. The concept was originally designed to attract consumers aged 14-18 through its Southern California-inspired image and casual wear. The distinctive fascia, with very little glazing, forces customers inside to see the merchandise. The first store opened in 2000 and the brand entered the UK in 2008, following its Regent Street debut with a string of mall openings across the country.
