"The British high street is renowned for its variety and fashionable
edge," says Jenny Dickinson, acting editor of Elle magazine, "but I
think this current appreciation of American retailers comes from a
desire to look different from every other woman on the street. We've
come to a point where many of us could say to a friend, 'that's a great
dress', in one breath and 'it's Warehouse, isn't it?' in the next."
British brands tend to have an identity that most savvy shoppers
have become used to. Many of them are bulk-owned (Topshop, Miss
Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins are all part of Philip Green's Arcadia,
for instance) and a reliance on shared manufacturers, textiles and
prints is often visible in each store's offer. And since the blast-off
in online shopping, customers are much more familiar with what is in
each shop and when, thanks to the extra browsing time afforded by the
internet.
"When the economy is challenging, it is the best time to grow," Senk
told The Independent last April. "People are spending less, but we need
to concentrate and focus on the customer." Catering to a highly specific
stratum of trend-aware tastemakers and aspirational teens means, rather
than the usual high street scatter-gun approach, there is a more subtly
honed profit plan at work.
Rakhee xx
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