Eyes tend to turn to the Big Apple when seeking retail affirmation, but Scribbler is hoping London’s Regent Street will be just as good.

How can you tell when a retailer is world-class?

If it’s in the fashion business then it might be about having an outpost on Fifth Avenue. Such was the view of Sir Philip Green when walking around his nascent Topshop on that very long thoroughfare just prior to the doors being flung wide for the first time last year.

And it’s an opinion that chimes with retailers the world over if the variety of names and the price they are prepared to pay for a shop on that street are anything to go by.

Scribbler to make its mark

That said, there is an equally strong indicator of being in the game and it is called Regent Street. Walk along this one at the moment and there is a newcomer about to make its mark. The retailer is Scribbler – the relatively new outfit that continues to steal some of the gloss and glamour that surrounds Paperchase.

Now, by opening on Regent Street, it has achieved something that its rival has not. In fairness, Paperchase has a shop just along Piccadilly from Fortnum & Mason, but in terms of being high-profile, a Regent Street store probably edges this, albeit it will be much smaller.

It will be the first stationer on the strip and even allowing for the fact that it is just north of Oxford Circus (next door to H&M), this will not be a cheap proposition.

“A whole raft of US retailers have chosen to make Regent Street their point of departure when seeking to establish a European presence.”

John Ryan, stores editor

That it can do this, even allowing for the relatively aspirational price of its greetings cards and associated paraphernalia, is a mark of confidence. If a retailer wants recognition and to signal that it is a player, then this is where to head for.

For this reason, a whole raft of US retailers have chosen to make Regent Street their point of departure when seeking to establish a European presence. For home-grown acts, a shop here means turnover has to be of sufficient magnitude and a store has to be good enough looking to deal with the surrounding competition.

So perhaps a version of the now defunct retail developer proposition that ‘build it and they will come’ could be applied to Scribbler. ‘Open it and providing it looks the part, you will do the business’, or something along these lines.

Hats off to this Regent Street arriviste, which looks set to become part of the streetscape and should do well – the volume is waiting. And as they say of somewhere else: “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”