Replay launches store-restaurant

Replay is trying out fresh ideas to attract new customers and to create traffic in its stores. The Italian denim brand, which has been overseen since 2010 by Matteo Sinigaglia, who acquired a 51% stake with his brother Massimo through Equibox holding, has unveiled The Stage, the new restaurant opened recently in the brand’s 16,150 square-foot Milanese flagship, located on Piazza Gae Aulenti in the restored Porta Nuova neighborhood.

"Entertainment is generally the business that works best - from bars to hotels. Moreover, it’s much easier to identify specific consumer targets in these locations, while in stores, which welcome all kinds of different people, it’s more difficult to choose a positioning," said Replay CEO Matteo Sinigaglia.

With this in mind, the brand has developed a new "multisensory" store concept, inspired by the fashion store/restaurant combination already employed by luxury brands, and also adding a cafeteria for lunch, a cocktail lounge and a restaurant. The goal? "To take a different business approach" while adapting to "a changing world." "We’re the first to offer these kind of store-restaurants in the denim world,” said the company’s CEO.

In the same spirit, Replay has been testing an organic bar for a little over a month at its store in Paris on rue Etienne Marcel (2nd arrondissement) which has produced "very satisfactory results given that there hasn’t been any marketing for the opening."

In fact, the label would like to bring its Milanese store concept to New York and London with openings planned for 2016 and 2017. The Replay/The Stage location, designed by the New York design studio Roman and Williams Buildings, will be rolled out in both cities with an identical concept, but with a different decor.

The flagship was designed with a film set style and a kind of behind-the-scenes ambience. It will be changed up on a regular basis on the basis that consumers are constantly looking for what’s new.

The restaurant, for example, is meant to represent the overturned hull of the Titanic. Smaller formats of around 2,700 ft² will also be developed, as will the store-bar currently being tested out in Paris.

The brand's goal is to reposition itself in a "smart premium" segment, accessible luxury with jeans sold to customers between 139 and 159 euros. With this in mind, the website and e-commerce, which saw sales up by 30% in 2014 (they make up 5% of its total turnover), have been completely overhauled with the help of the New York company Ctg.

In terms of products, Replay is getting ready for a new launch, following that of its Hyperflex jeans, which are characterized by their high degree of elasticity. In September, the company will introduce denim made from a new fiber that is "extremely innovative and elastic, and oriented toward sportswear."

"After focuses on workwear and casual and glamorous looks, the next step could be denim sportswear," said Sinigaglia, without going into details.

Replay is expected to close 2014 with revenues in line with those of 2013, which amounted to 204 million euros. The brand’s biggest market, making up 85% of its exports, is Northern Europe (Germany and Scandinavia). The label, which generates 60% of its sales in Europe, and the rest in Asia and the Middle East, is considering a partnership with a local retailer to invest in the US.

Replay launches store-restaurant

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