Accessories - Attire Accessories magazine

How did you decide on and develop the
new brand concept of the Osprey London
stores?
Osprey London had long been retailed
through premium stores such as House of
Fraser and John Lewis, but as a brand owner
you are never fully in control of the brand
experience for customers unless you retail it
yourself. We first opened a flagship lifestyle
store, Osprey Home and then our own
e-commerce site back in 2006, but the retail
environment was changing rapidly and we
decided it was time to reach out to a wider
customer base. We were inspired by how
premium designer brands like Ralph Lauren
and Coach had done this in the United States
and so, along with developing our existing
premium retail channels, we put together
an outlet strategy. Today’s customer does
not exclusively shop on the high street any
more than he or she exclusively shops online:
people buy from designer stores, online, from
the high street and, increasingly, from outlets.
While many of my UK peers expressed
surprise initially that we were taking this
route, the success of our first Osprey London
store in York Designer Outlet in October 2009
shows that there is huge potential to replicate
the American model in the UK, provided
you offer your outlet customer a premium
brand experience. While we have a long
established wholesale offer and a growing
online business, adding an outlet channel to
our business puts us more firmly in control of
our future development.
How did you choose the premises and
locations of your stores?
We worked really closely with GVA Grimley
to identify the best fit for the brand, looking
at the local demographics and adjacencies
within potential locations. Together we
identified 15 key centres for launch and
developed a beautiful shop fit with Jamieson
Smith Associates. On top of our existing
stores at York Designer Outlet, Gunwharf
Quays in Portsmouth, Gloucester Quays and
Swindon Designer Outlet we have opened
an Osprey London store at Clarks Village in
Street, Somerset, with others planned for later
this year.
How would you describe the presentation of
the stores?
We set out to create a store that fully reflects
our brand so that the customer really can
Retailer Interview
enjoy a premium brand experience wherever
he or she comes into contact with Osprey
London, whether at our flagship store
outside St Albans, online or at outlet. The
store design takes many of its cues from the
flagship lifestyle store Osprey Home, where
the vibe of a country gentleman’s home is
tempered with quirkier finds from my travels.
Nature and vintage materials play a key role in
bringing the outlet Osprey London store style
to life. While the products are merchandised
on formal looking armoires in rich timber
placed on Travertine flooring, feature product
displays are created on a vintage leather
sofa or a rough-hewn table. The store design
perfectly captures the interplay of an English
formal style with something warmer and
individual like our driftwood chandeliers.
It’s this interplay that is the essence of the
Osprey London style.
The shop fixtures are designed to suit each
product range. Strategically placed display
features help to break up the product sectors
and lead the customer through the store to
the rear, where an imposing black glass wall
with brand signage sits behind the cash desk,
itself created from a huge, rough-hewn piece
of wood.
ATTIRE 27