Crew Clothing

Overview

Crew Clothing is a niche lifestyle clothing retailer that plays on its quintessentially British heritage.  

Director Menoshi ‘Michael’ Shina has been at the helm since the departure of chief executive David Butler in mid-2023.  

Crew has operated along multichannel lines since it was launched in the mid-1990s, but has been finding the going tough over the past few years in an increasingly competitive clothing market. 

Recent focus has been on turning the core UK business around, with the product offer and store network being reviewed. The retailer is also looking to grow its wholesale business, which is currently relatively small. 

Strategy includes: 

• Opening new standalone stores 
• New partnerships with retailers such as Marks & Spencer (M&S), Next and John Lewis 
• Sporting collaborations with Henley Royal Regatta, The Lawn Tennis Association, rugby union club Exeter Chiefs and more to grow reach 

Bolstered by the acquisition out of administration of 25 former Saltrock Surfwear stores in 2018, store numbers have swelled to around the 100 mark. 

Group sales surged 15.6% to £117.2m for the 53-week period ending 31 December 2023 (FY2023). Pre-tax margin was bolstered to 13.2% in FY2023, with the retailer delivering a pre-tax profit of £15.5m. Adjusted EBITDA rose to £18.2m, driven by strong sales performance with costs increasing at “a slower rate”.

Wholesale agreements include new digital partnership with M&S 

Former CEO David Butler told Retail Week in October 2022: “I want Crew Clothing to become the Ralph Lauren of middle England.” 

Leading the business between 2018 and 2023, Butler had spurred a number of wholesale partnerships with retailers such as John Lewis, Next and M&S as he strove to grow the wholesale business and bolster its omnichannel credentials.   

Crew Clothing became the latest clothing retailer to join the ‘Brands at M&S’ platform in March 2023, selling an initial 200 lines across both menswear and womenswear in a move which gives Crew access to M&S’s 30 million customers.  

Butler had said: “Our partnership with British retail stalwart Marks & Spencer represents a significant opportunity for Crew Clothing to further increase its brand exposure and reach new customers.  

“We are always looking for new ways to make shopping with Crew Clothing even more accessible and look forward to working with Marks & Spencer as we continue to grow.”  

Growing stores from 2023 

While its store estate is integral to its success, management has been looking to balance the business more efficiently across channels, and in terms of store locations, has been focusing on market towns where there is less risk, swerving shopping centres and pricey cities. 

Following a ‘post-pandemic bounceback’, the fashion retailer announced a renewed expansion programme from early 2023, with plans to open 40 new stores - focusing on market towns and coastal resorts over the next few years.  

Former CEO Butler said that the high street is “by no means dead” and said of the expansion plans: “We have to react to customer behaviour and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that people are shopping in stores again. Our footfall is back to pre-pandemic levels.”  

While the retailer is well-represented in many smaller market towns such as Beaconsfield, Dorchester, Farnham, Marlborough and Petersfield, it also has good coverage in more mainstream retail locations including Bristol, Guildford and Southampton.  

The store network also reflects the brand’s watersports origins, with locations including Abersoch, Chichester, Lymington and Padstow in addition to the original store in Salcombe. 

A number of concessions across the likes of John Lewis and House of Fraser were closed under former chief executive Louise Barnes, with the business entirely focused on stand-alone stores in the last few years. 

The estate includes a relatively high proportion of factory outlet stores, however, with 19 towards the end of 2023. 

The average store size is small, reflecting the fact that Crew has always had a multichannel element to its business model, although recent developments have included some upsizing to accommodate the expanding product offer.  

Over summer 2021, for example, Crew relocated to a new unit within Exeter’s Princesshay shopping centre. At 2,000 sq ft, the new store was double the size of Crew’s previous space within the centre.   

New stores in 2024 includes sites in Whitstable and East Grinstead as well as refurbished stores in Reigate, Windsor, Falmouth and Canterbury. 

Focus on improving digital offer 

Crew Clothing has strong multichannel credentials. A mail order catalogue was a key part of the offer from the outset, with the retailer going on to establish a transactional website at an early stage. 

While stores remain integral to the business, Butler had admitted that the retailer has been too reliant on its estate in the past and is thus looking to bolster its other selling channels, enhancing the various ways consumers want to interact. 

Ecommerce is its fastest-growing channel, with digital now a key focus. Prior to the pandemic, its ecommerce arm had represented just 30% of total sales, yet its revamped offering now sees the retailer boast a 50/50 split as of end-2022.  

Recent developments have included a website redesign, the introduction of exclusive online products, the ability to distribute from stores and the appointment of a dedicated data team to analyse customer insight. 

It was reported in mid-October 2024 that the retailer was working with BigCommerce to improve its ecommerce operation, replatforming with the help of IDHL.

Wholesale u-turn 

Under previous management, Crew’s wholesale business had been scaled back. Wholesale agreements with the likes of Asos and Very were terminated, while concessions in House of Fraser and John Lewis were also shuttered. 

Indeed, apart from wholesale agreements with eBay and TK Maxx for the sale of clearance stock, in 2018 the retailer had only been selling through its own standalone stores.  

While the wholesale proposition is still at an early stage of development, Butler had set his sights on extending its wholesale reach - firstly across the UK before looking for international wholesale partners. Signalling this intent, Crew has brought on designers to come up with products exclusively for partners. 

Its partnership with John Lewis was rekindled in June 2021, while partnerships with Next and M&S have followed.  

Sports collabs grow brand profile 

Crew also works with a number of sporting partners including  Henley Royal Regatta, The Lawn Tennis Association, rugby union club Exeter Chiefs, the Professional Cricketers’ Association and Formula 1 team Williams Racing to grow its brand profile and reach.  

Butler told Retail Week that customers acquired as a direct result of its sponsorships spend on average 35% more, shop 26% more frequently and are 10% more engaged with the brand. 

“We’ve established a nice collection and a good price point with good quality, but our association with Henley, Formula One and Queen’s [Club Championships grass-court tennis] has resonated with our customers.”  

Product diversification 

Sales were split roughly 50:50 between menswear and womenswear before the retailer moved back into childrenswear with a new range that launched in spring 2020. 

Crew’s product offer has come under scrutiny in recent years. Moving away from a reliance on core items, Crew has developed its range to include a wider breadth of products such as more blazers and printed dresses. 

Partnership with Thrift+ 

Highlighting its ongoing commitment to sustainability, in June 2022 Crew Clothing partnered with second-hand clothing resale platform Thrift+. This enables customers to resell their used clothing on the platform in return for credits which can be donated to a charity of choice, used on the Thrift+ website, or spent at a number of high street retailers. 

Acquired Saltrock brand  

Crew acquired the Saltrock Surfwear leisure clothing and accessories brand in August 2018 together with 25 stores out of administration. 

International strategy 

A previous overhaul of Crew Clothing’s IT systems was designed to provide a platform for serious international development. 

While a former German subsidiary failed to get off the ground and a handful of stores in Dubai have also been shuttered, Butler had talked to the media about plans to move into markets such as The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, as well as Australia and the Middle East. 

He has also spoken about building on the brand’s presence in Ireland.  

Butler also said in an interview that his plans to grow the wholesale arm of the business include ambitions to develop partnerships in international markets. While there remains an international appetite for upmarket British lifestyle brands like Crew, this is a particularly viable route for growth in markets where demand is insufficient to warrant stores. Indeed, the wholesale route could become a much more viable option for international development in the wake of the pandemic. 

Multichannel business model has shaped technology strategy 

Many of the latest technology enhancements within the business are aiding its stores to drive efficiency. 

Crew Clothing expanded its partnership with Cegid in mid-2024, rolling out its Newsfeed feature across its stores. This enables the retailer’s management and store teams to keep employees “engaged, informed and connected to the brand’s vision”. 

It builds on the investment the retailer made in new technology in stores in 2022, partnering with Couchbase and PMC on a mobile sales solution.  Staff in store can now serve customers from anywhere in the store using a tablet where they can access all POS sale functions including sales, refunds, customer service and promotions.  

Crew’s technology infrastructure has developed to support its multichannel strategy as this has been at the heart of the business from the outset.  

Indeed, the retailer was one of the first to see the potential of in-store iPads. These were introduced to all stores as early as 2011 to give customers access to the full range.  

It has also experimented with virtual fitting rooms in the past, having signed a deal with Fits.me, but is no longer using this technology on its current site.  

Its early adoption of technology has meant there has been some upgrading to be done over the past few years.   

An overhaul of its core IT systems several years ago was intended to support ongoing development in the domestic market as well as providing a platform for growth in other territories. 

Supply chain strategy 

Crew Clothing’s supply chain infrastructure has had to support a multichannel business model right from the word go. A mail order catalogue was a key part of the offer from the outset and this meant that the retailer also then moved into ecommerce at an early stage.  

There is currently even more impetus on efficient logistics as the retailer looks to build its digital business and in 2018 it transitioned to a model that enables it to distribute from stores. 

Supply chain operations have been outsourced to MIQ Logistics since 2015. 

Additionally, having outgrown its existing logistics facility, Crew Clothing partners with logistic specialist Torque to fulfil its UK retail requirements via a shared-user operation. Torque is responsible for processing and delivering goods to Crew’s retail network. Benefits also include reduced packaging costs.