Flannels reveals 15-store expansion plans, adds beauty, fitness studio

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 18, 2020

Frasers Group’s luxury retail chain Flannels is planning to open three new flagships in the UK next year and up to 15 over the next five years. They’ll be large-scale and could be called department stores (albeit fashion-led) as beauty, dining and activewear will be included.

They’ll kick off with stores in central Liverpool, in Sheffield’s Meadowhall mall and Leicester’s Fosse Park. 

The company said each “state-of-the-art store” will occupy at least 30,000 sq ft comprising, "luxury and contemporary ready-to-wear concepts, active destinations and restaurant offerings”. And there will be an “ongoing focus placed on brand activations, a peerless celebrity campaign approach, and an underlying celebration of subculture”.

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It’s a vote of confidence in physical retail in Britain in a year that’s likely to see more battered chains shutting individual chains or large numbers of branches.

The regional flagships will be designed by architects at Argent, the team behind the business’s elevated boutique portfolio.

The company has already opened five new Flannels stores so far this year to bring the total to 40. And it has released details of the Liverpool store that opens next autumn saying that it will cover 120,000 sq ft in the heart of the city and will be the firm’s first  large-scale multi-brand luxury destination there. Situated on Parker Street, it will be in the building once occupied by now-defunct department store chain Owen Owen.

It’s a big space that’s set over seven floors. This gives it plenty of room for the new features Flannels is planing: the beauty department, rooftop restaurant and a floor dedicated to leisure, activewear and high-performance sportswear, complete with a World of Active conceptual space and fitness studio.

The beauty offer will include “iconic and disruptor names combined with an innovative approach to in-store trial and experience, rooted in achieving outstanding consumer satisfaction to address recurring beauty purchasing challenges”.

Frasers’ head of elevation Michael Murray said: “We recognise Liverpool as a powerhouse of culture and style. Liverpool is the fifth largest retail centre in the country, and in our opinion under-served – we’ll be the first and only multi-category destination to mark the city. The market has an unmatched appetite for the type of luxury we do best.”