The classic shoe retailer, Clarks are set to launch a men‘s pop up store in the heart of London‘s Seven Dials this autumn.
Clarks have been crafting footwear since 1825, the pop up store will be the brands first ever standalone men‘s shop. The 443 square foot shop will stock an edit of the brand‘s Autumn/Winter collection that offers formal and casual designs executed in a clean and modern style. The store will open on October 23rd and will run for 3 weeks.
Based in Seven Dials which is home to over 150 shops and 50 vibrant cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs, Clarks will certainly be kept in good company. The unique retail and leisure destination is also home to luxury hotels, five theatres, private members club, apartments and offices such as the UK headquarters of social media site Facebook. Seven Dials is allocated on Monmouth Street, Neal Street, Neal Yard, Shorts Garden, Endell Street, Shelton Street and Mercer Street.
Commenting on the launch of the brand‘s new men‘s Clarks store at Seven Dials, Sam Bain-Mollison, Head of Group Retail Strategy and Letting at Shaftesbury PLC, said: “This UK exclusive pop up for Clarks men‘s range is a fantastic addition to Neal Street and its current fashion offer. Seven Dials is a highly attractive destination for new brands and concepts to make their debut. The Clarks men‘s showcase is a great example of the type of innovative retail we seek to bring to Seven Dials. They will be amongst great company, including a strong line of national international brands.”
Last month on the 5th of September Clarks launched a collaboration range with Orla Kiely for women‘s autumns‘ winter range. It is the second range they have released together and have been proved successful with high volumes of positive coverage in fashion magazines.
Clarks is expecting to see a £1.6bn turnover this year with £128m net profit. Not just focusing on concept stores and design collaboration they have a five year plan to grow their e-commerce presence. Clarks‘ vision is by 2025 to have made many appropriate technology investments.
The footwear retailer is replacing their e-commerce sites with a global based system. Clarks have rolled out iPads to shops and staff across 700 stores trialling a new concept of ways to measure customer‘s feet. The iPads can measure the sizes of the feet and works well with children as animated characters pop up to amuse them. The iPads also can be used to send messages to the staff in the stock room to bring out sizes and styles requested. Around 25% of stores now have Wi-Fi and Clarks understand the modern convenience that customers now expect.
In the future they also plan to look into introducing mobile payments so customers don‘t have to queue, as well as 3D printing which will be powerful when it comes to manufacturing.
