UK's Liberty plans international expansion

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Jun 29, 2015

Liberty, the iconic British department store that's housed in a historic, impressive central London building, is spreading its wings and expanding into the US.

The retailer will sell its Flowers of Liberty collection in five Nordstrom stores this summer, as part of the US department chain's Pop-in@Nordstrom series. The collection features three prints - Wiltshore, Betsy and Theodora - on a range of kitchenware, food and gifts.

Olivia Kim, director of Creative Projects at Nordstrom, commented: "Liberty London’s rich heritage and history as an iconic retailer makes it the perfect collaborator for Pop-In @ Nordstrom. We can't wait to share the Flowers of Liberty collection with our customers exclusively for the first time outside of the famous London store in the UK. The range of products in the collection is uniquely charming, cleverly diverse and most of all fun, making it a perfect complement to Pop-In @ Nordstrom."

The Nordstrom collaboration may only be the first step towards global expansion for the department store. In an interview with The Guardian, Liberty boss Marco Capello of BlueGem says the company plans to float Liberty in three years time.

Before then, there will be another pop-up, at Milan's La Rinascente, which will sell Liberty's London line, and a deal with a second US department store is also underway, according to the newspaper.

Liberty's profit rose to £21.5m and sales were up to £132m last year.