Debut full-line store for Vanilla to open at Bluewater

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 1, 2021

The giant Bluewater mall in Kent will be home to the first standalone store for new fashion brand Vanilla following its initial success online and with concessions.

The 3,616 sq ft flagship adjacent to H&M on Upper Thames Walk will be the first opportunity for the brand to show its collections physically in full. And Vanilla Bluewater will exclusively stock a new shoe and accessory collection.

The London-based company operates two “accessibly priced” labels, Blue Vanilla, which is “on-trend womenswear”, and Pink Vanilla targeting the 14-24 age group. It has been selling online via its own webstore and shipping to around 150 countries, as well as through  platforms such as Next, Debenhams and Silk Fred. But it also sells through concessions in stores such as New Look and House of Fraser nationwide and on e-commerce.

There were no details on when the new flagship would open, but at least it was positive news coming the day after Gap announced that all of its UK stores would close with the company currently having a sizeable presence at Bluewater.

Rob Hardie, Portfolio Director for co-owner and asset manager of Bluewater, Landsec, said: “We are committed to constantly diversifying and building upon our already varied offer at Bluewater, to keep it relevant and appealing to all that visit. The addition of specialist and unique retail brands [like] Vanilla is evidence of our efforts to consistently deliver trend-led retail options to our visitors. [This] and other recent openings, such as Zara’s global concept store, only strengthens Bluewater position as the retail industry rebounds post-pandemic.”

And Vanilla’s head of retail stores, Michelle Burns, said the company was “very selective when searching for the ideal location at which to launch our encompassed Vanilla flagship store, and Bluewater, with its impressive array of retail names and strong experiential offering, is the perfect destination for us. We have built up a strong reputation with our Blue Vanilla and Pink Vanilla brands through e-commerce and strong sales through concessions, including Bluewater.”