Frasers Group has lifted the lid on its first new department store since it acquired House of Fraser in 2018.
The launch of the 34,000 sq ft site, which occupies the former Debenhams in Wolverhampton’s Mander Centre, marks what the retailer called a “pivotal moment” in its elevation strategy to enhance the look and feel of its physical portfolio.
Frasers, Mike Ashley’s retail empire formerly known as Sports Direct, said the store is designed to be an “inspirational place to meet, explore and shop”. It hopes it will be the first of many regional department stores it opens in cities across the UK – an ambition the group still harbours despite admitting this morning that it faces a £200m writedown in the value of its properties.
Frasers has been working on the Wolverhampton store for 18 months and its opening on Monday will mark the culmination of a “multimillion-pound” overhaul.
- Get the latest department stores news and analysis straight to your inbox – sign up for our weekly newsletter
It stocks major brands across the beauty, fashion, accessories and childrenswear categories, and also features the group’s first-ever Frasers House homewares area where customers can book appointments with expert interior designers.
The lower ground floor hosts Sports Direct, Evans Cycles and a Belong gaming arena, while a first-floor restaurant will open in the summer when Covid-19 restrictions allow.
The Wolverhampton store is the first brand new Frasers format. The only other stores to open under the Frasers fascia to date are in Belfast and Rushden Lakes, both of which were revamps of existing House of Fraser sites.
Is Frasers the future? Retail Week editor Luke Tugby’s verdict
It’s been a long time coming. Almost 18 months have passed since Mike Ashley revealed his plan to rename Sports Direct as Frasers Group, underscoring his plans to take his retail empire upmarket.
This is the physical manifestation of those bold ambitions and a show of confidence not just in the department store format, but in the high street.
You’ll struggle to get anyone at Frasers to call this a department store, however. It’s not a term they care for all that much. Instead, they describe the Frasers format as a “lifestyle platform for brands”.
It’s clear this store has been designed with those brands in mind. Big-name anchors line the perimeter – Estée Lauder in beauty, Calvin Klein in womenswear, Ralph Lauren in menswear – while central “zones” offer Frasers more flexibility to move with customer demand and showcase emerging brands such as Uoma and Kitri. Where many traditional department stores are locked into long-term agreements with brands, Frasers has the agility to change its proposition on an almost weekly basis, based on sales.
In that respect, Frasers is listening to its customers. A root-and-branch review of the brands stocked in House of Fraser led to labels like Topshop, Karen Millen and Coast being axed, making way for more exciting, relevant names that consumers are increasingly demanding. A mix has been concocted with the potential not only to please existing customers but to attract younger ones, too.
The store environment will certainly help its bid to do that. Designed by luxury architects Argent, marble floors, digital screens and contemporary merchandising units create a clean and modern shopping environment, while ripple metal textures offer a subtle nod to the original Frasers store in Glasgow.
Debenhams apparently spent £7m refitting this unit with new flooring and lighting fixtures just four years ago. Frasers has taken that to the next level.
The fact that the area once occupied by Caffè Nero now houses the luxury footwear department in the adjoining Flannels neatly encapsulates the extent of the transformation during the past 18 months.
The proof, of course, will be in the pudding when the shutters go up on April 12. Frasers wants to offer an experience that simply cannot be replicated online, but this store is not quite the finished article in its efforts to achieve that.
Do you really need to have Frasers and Sports Direct under one roof? Will the same shoppers splashing out on premium beauty and fashion really venture downstairs to Sports Direct and Evans Cycles? And will it boast enough different experiences to tempt shoppers off their tablets and back into store post-pandemic?
Even if it hasn’t quite nailed the answer to those questions yet, Frasers has thought long and hard about the fundamentals of the department store of the future. John Lewis, take note.
Frasers Group has taken a total of 60,000 sq ft in the Mander Centre, combining the Frasers, Sports Direct and Flannels fascias for the first time.
Visitors to Frasers can walk between all three stores, though each has also its own individual entrance within the mall.
Frasers said the store format will “reignite the high street with a new-found optimism” by focusing on “experience, brands and service”.
The “beauty playground” that greets customers as they enter the store’s main entrance has 120 beauty, tanning, hair, bath and body brands with independent advisers on hand to offer consultations on treatments, ranging from makeup advice to a hydration station, where experts suggest drinks that can help customers with their skincare regime.
Frasers Group head of elevation Michael Murray said: “This is a pivotal moment for the group as we open our first multi-fascia destination to feature a Frasers store. We are committed to raising the bar for retail and delivering aspirational stores with a focus on experience, brands and service. Frasers Wolverhampton demonstrates our dedication to, and our vision for, the brand’s future.
“Not only are we opening brand new flagship stores in some of the UK’s biggest cities but we are also investing in elevated propositions in smaller towns like Wolverhampton, setting the benchmark for regional retail and demonstrating the ambition and scale of our strategy.”
4 Readers' comments