A year ago, Polish fashion giant LPP opened Reserved on Oxford Street with great fanfare. But does it have what it takes to break Britain?

As statements go, this was a big one. Kate Moss plastered all over London buses, an Oxford Street flagship on the site of the failed BHS and Mossy herself there on the big day to wave at the assembled crowd.

This was Polish retailer LPP’s introduction to the UK market on September 6, 2017. The retail giant, which operates 1,700 stores across 21 markets, had bought its biggest and most mainstream brand, Reserved, to London and wanted everyone to know it.

“Frankly, I didn’t realise that before entering the UK that it is so demanding”

Marek Piechocki, LPP

One year on, Retail Week visited the retailer at its headquarters in Gdansk in Northern Poland to learn more about its UK ambitions – it’s on the hunt for more premises – and discover whether it has what it takes to go the distance in the ferociously competitive market.

“Frankly, I didn’t realise that before entering the UK that it is so demanding,” admits LPP co-founder and chief executive Marek Piechocki. “It is much more demanding than the German market, for example. But I am quite happy [to be in the UK] because I see right now that London is somehow above the edge of the European capitals.”

Piechocki believes that being in London will lift standards at the rest of the LPP business and seems confident that his business has what it takes to succeed in this country.

“I am very happy that we are there,” he continues. “I don’t know why it happens but [the UK] is above the edge on different requirements, whether it is shop windows, customer service, visual merchandising… it is all on a high level but I like that because it is giving us higher requirements.

“It is only by that that you develop, and the standards that the London shop is pushing on us we are transferring very often to the other shops, and thanks to the London shop we are improving in general as a company. So, I am very, very happy with being there.”

East meets West

While Piechocki’s confidence is clear, it’s easy to wonder whether it is misplaced. LPP is an impressive operator and has grown quickly, but the UK fashion market is notorious for chewing up international retailers and spitting them out.

Just think about the long line of American businesses that return home, tails between their legs or that limp on but never really crack the market – such as Banana Republic or Forever 21.

What’s more, with whatever form of Brexit Britain ends up with edging ever closer, it’s a daunting time to bet on the UK consumer.

“There is never a right time,” counters Piechocki, whose steely dynamism seems to have been borne from Poland’s transition from communism to capitalism.

While many people know the history of the fall of the Berlin wall and the consequent economic and social changes throughout Russia and the Eastern Bloc, Piechocki’s accounts of his student days and early working life bring home just how novel economic freedom must have felt.

“The average Polish monthly salary used to be $20,” he recalls. “And everything was nationalised. You could have private companies but only if you had six people or less.

“Compared to the fall of Communism, the ongoing will-we, won’t-we drama of Brexit suddenly seems a little parochial”

“We are practically the first generation where we can build a business. This is so different from Western European countries, where you never lost your independence.”

Compared to the fall of Communism, the ongoing will-we, won’t-we drama of Brexit suddenly seems a little parochial.

“There are always a lot of difficulties to face,” Piechocki continues. “But it is only in difficult times that the company that is strong can show its strengths.

“I don’t believe this is the worst time for the UK right now.

“There are a lot of rumours about Brexit but I do not worry so much about what will be in the future because I strongly believe the British Government will not let the business that is there go away, whether it is us, companies from Sweden or Spain or the US, and that is why I am not bothering with this.”

Even without the political headwinds, however, breaking the UK fashion market is a tough ask.

In response to this issue, Piechocki points to LPP’s financial record – over the past decade its revenues have increased 260% – and stresses that he is focused solely on LPP’s strategy.

“I know there are a lot of fashion companies which have difficulties across all of Europe, but the problems that are facing others are their problems,” he says.

“We have to fight for our survival and this is the only thing we are concentrating on. Don’t blame the outside world, look at yourself, improve what you have, it is the only philosophy that will bring you success.”

The proof will come later this year when LPP reveals like-for-likes for its first few comparative months.

Reserved Oxford Street

Reserved on Oxford Street

Slick operation

Touring the business’s head office and nearby distribution centre, it’s clear that LPP has the operational expertise and the funds to succeed.

The scale of the operation really becomes clear at its slick ecommerce distribution centre, where giant robotic arms whiz up and down tens of aisles to dispatch 40,000 boxes per day and 22 teams of photographers and stylists work to showcase product for the brands’ websites.

Its marketing too is well-executed, with big-name campaigns such as those fronted by Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford, followed by artier – but still clearly moneyed – efforts.

Its autumn campaign features French ‘it girl’ Jeanne Damas and emerging Polish film star Joanna Kulig, longlisted for a best actress Oscar next year, in no fewer than three glossy videos.

A weak link, although Piechocki would loathe anyone saying it, may be the product itself. Reserved operates at the most competitive end of the market, with prices hovering around an H&M price point and designs trend-conscious but not fashion-forward.

It’s good product: well-designed, well-executed and with a good quality-to-value ratio. However, it also looks like quite a lot of what is already on the British high street in chains such as New Look or H&M, both of which are currently struggling. 

“I won’t compete with [Primark]. We are far away from that”


Marek Piechocki, LPP

Both value-orientated retailers have been affected by the continued rise of Primark, which does trend cheaper than anyone else on the high street, but when asked whether he considers Primark a major competitor, Piechocki becomes animated and shies away from the idea.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” he says. “Not at all. I won’t compete with that. We are far away from that. I admire the business they are building and the concept they are making. But they are a completely different business model. They are not in art and fashion, they are in commodity.”

Reserved is value-orientated, he concedes, but he insists: “This is completely different work – look what we have been doing for our shop windows, we have been working with Vogue. It is art, it is simply art. We are not in the same business. It is the difference between a cheap canteen and a three- or five-star Michelin restaurant.”

For all Piechocki’s assertions, the UK experience has been tougher than LPP first thought. But the retailer is not deterred. It is keeping its eye on large units in both Westfield London and Westfield Stratford, although expansion outside of the capital is some time off.

While its UK venture is under way, however, the battle for international acclaim is just beginning.

“I was always of the opinion that if we want to build an international company, we have to stand face-to-face with our competitors in the most difficult markets,” Piechocki says. “Otherwise you have to be somewhere hidden around the corner, and this is not forever because one day the competitor will come to you.”

And while he has conceded that the UK has proved more challenging than he previously thought, his confidence is still disarming. “We are there and we will be there,” he pronounces. “Don’t worry, we are not leaving.”