Reserved halts UK store expansion in uncertain market - report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 12, 2019

Polish multi-brand fashion retail giant LPP is stalling any thoughts of expansion for its Reserved chain in Britain for now. The company launched Reserved with a huge fanfare on Oxford Street in London two years ago and when delivering its next set of results talked up its aim for physical store growth in the UK. But now it’s waiting until the current uncertain political issues “become clear”.

VP Przemysław Lutkiewicz confirmed to Retail Week that it was putting a hold on expansion plans. However, considering that it still has only the one branch (that Oxford Street location in BHS’s former flagship), it appears to have turned cautious soon after the initial rush in the wake of the branch’s opening.

“The plans are on hold because there is still uncertainty around Brexit but secondly we are waiting for the store to prove that we can continuously increase the sales regardless of the economic conditions,” Lutkiewicz told the publication. 

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Although the Oxford Street store has seen rising sales, it’s yet to turn a profit in the first two years of its 10-year lease. However, that’s only to be expected given the high costs of entering a new country with only one store and the high rents on Oxford Street.

That said, the exec also told the trade paper that Oxford Street is the best-performing store in terms of sales out of its entire Reserved estate in northern and eastern Europe.