// Kurt Geiger confirms plans to reopen all UK stores, including 9 brand new shops, from April 12
// This will bring its total estate to 131 sites
// The new stores will create 50 new jobs & Kurt Geiger wants to re-employ staff made redundant from Debenhams
Kurt Geiger has announced that it will open nine brand new stores as part of its lockdown exit plans starting next week.
These new standalone stores will are part of its 131-strong store estate that will reopen once non-essential retail is allowed to reopen in England and Wales from April 12.
The new Kurt Geiger stores will open in Westfield Stratford London, Moreley’s Brixton, Chester Oaks, Swindon, Bridgend, Selby’s Holloway Road, West Midlands Cannock, as well as two new stores in Leeds.
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The new Stratford store is in addition to the store already located in Westfield Stratford City, while the stores in Brixton and Holloway Road are department store concessions.
The new stores will also create 50 new jobs, and fashion retailer said it wanted to re-employ staff made redundant from its Debenhams concessions.
“I am so happy to be opening our stores again and especially pleased to be opening these new stores,” Kurt Geiger chief executive Neil Clifford said.
“At Kurt Geiger, we continue to believe passionately in the high street, and continuing to protect our employees’ jobs as much as possible is a priority for us.”
As part of its reopening plans, the fashion retailer said its signature rainbow icon would continue to be at the forefront of its campaign to represent kindness, creativity and love for the community.
It comes after it launched the People Empowered campaign, featuring activists for disability, diversity, mental health and social justice.
Meanwhile from the outset of Covid-19, Kurt Geiger made contributions of over £1 million in support of the NHS and frontline workers.
It started its efforts by launching its “We Are One” product range which gives 100 per cent of proceeds to NHS Charities Together, and so far over £100,000 has been raised.
Kurt Geiger then offered a 50 per cent discount on all its products to key workers through its partnership with Blue Light Card, which has to date has totalled over £500,000 worth of discounts.
Kurt Geiger has also donated gift cards worth £100 each to critical care workers in the 70 hospitals located near its UK stores, worth a value of over £400,000, and donated £20,000, – its first month of store profits – to NHS Charities Together when shops reopened last June after the UK’s first lockdown.
Furthermore, Clifford suspended his salary in 2020 and Kurt Geiger said it has continued to pay its staff’s salaries.
“We have learnt a lot from lockdown and Covid-19 and our mission throughout has been to be kind and inclusive which has led to a fundamental change in the way we do business and has resulted in a significant proportion of our profits last year being donated to charities,” Clifford said.
“Many people would say we can’t afford to do this, our view is that we can’t afford not to.
“Our customers by the hundreds and thousands have responded positively and endorsed this approach.
“There are many lessons to be learnt for the fashion and retail industry and we are in a new era where customers want to support those brands that they can empathise with and respect.”
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