Tycoon Paphitis sets sights on Ryman Design expansion

Ryman Design, which was developed after Ryman’s traditional model was hit in the aftermath of the pandemic, has five branches at present.

The Design shops carry products such as exclusive stationery brands, cards and art materials, and are in high-footfall city centre locations such as Cheapside in the City of London and Edinburgh. The shops target consumers rather than business customers.

Paphitis is now keen to add more Design stores, following the format’s strong performance since its launch in 2023.

He told Retail Week: “I think there’s 30 places it would work well in. It won’t work everywhere – that’s fine, I’ve got other stores that will be hybrids of Design.”

He hoped that landlords would work with Ryman to open more Design stores and improve the retailer’s estate generally.

The established estate is benefiting from innovations such as an app enabling printing from store, which is driving footfall, and he is taking lessons and brands from Design into traditional Ryman branches where appropriate.

Paphitis said: “As we do that it upgrades and elevates the existing stores, because they become more interesting and drive people over the threshold.

“We can sit down and say: Dear landlord, this is Ryman here. We have been here for God knows how many years. The store is looking very tired. It got bashed in a massive storm recently with Covid and everything else.

“We’ve repositioned ourselves now to have a wider breadth and a more even spread of revenue. So we’re happy – unlike many other retailers – to renew our lease. But you need to help me. Let’s bring this store back up to scratch and invest, and your property is going to be more valuable.

“That’s the discussions we’re having, because we’ve got examples now of our Design store to show people. We can show them numbers. That becomes more interesting for them.”