// Fortnum & Mason is revamping its flagship store with its third floor acting as a “creative hub” focused on food and drink
// The renovated third floor will host cooking demonstrations by international and in-house chefs as well alongside a gin distillery
In a bid to move away from its image as a grocer to the mega-rich and attract a wider range of shoppers, Fortnum & Mason is revamping its flagship store.
According to the Telegraph, the 316 year-old department store retailer is re-opening the third floor of its shop on Piccadilly in the West End as a “creative hub” focused on food and drink.
The floor previously housed a menswear department which was shuttered during the pandemic.
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In what the retailer called its biggest investment in the store in a decade, the renovated third floor will host cooking demonstrations by international and in-house chefs as well alongside a gin distillery.
To cater to a growing number of drinkers moderating their intake, Mr Athron said the distillery will make a low-alcohol gin, not just full-strength spirits.
The revamp will also include a hamper personalisation service and a “Cook Shop” which will sell kitchenware, cookbooks and ingredients such as oils, spices and seasonings.
Fortnum & Mason chief executive Tom Athron said the inspiration for the refurbishment came after the retailer began hosting supper clubs for customers.
Anthron told the title: “The whole strategy around Fortnum has been for, for a while now, to become more relevant to more people more often.
“It’s less about a sort of gross exclusivity or the mystique of formidableness… but much more about being warm and welcoming and inclusive and all of those things”.
Despite Fortnum & Mason’s reputation as a destination for wealthy tourists, Anthrod told the Telegraph that the revamp was aimed more at domestic shoppers.
He said: “I love our overseas customers, they are an incredibly important part of what we do. But if I was to design propositions that would just appeal to tourists, I think that it would be less attractive to our domestic customer base. Whereas if I focus on becoming more relevant to our domestic customers, the tourists will come anyway.”
Fortnum & Mason posted its first loss in five years in 2021 after being forced to close during lockdowns, but the business returned to profit in 2022, hailing a successful Christmas with total sales rising 8% in the five-week period to 25 December 2022, and up 29% from 2019.
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