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FEATURES - CURRENT FEATURES - NOV 2011 - SUPERDRY
Superdry is a brand which has seen a dramatic increase in business in recent years, targeting the young and fashion conscious consumer. The group was founded in 1985 and the Superdry brand was established in 2003, inspired by Japanese design influences with vintage Americana style, has developed to design and sell a wide range of premium men’s and women’s clothing under its flagship brand, Superdry.
At present Superdry operates in the UK, Europe, North and South America, the Far East and the Middle East. At the end of April the brand had 80 points of sale around the world including seven in UK and Ireland, 48 in Europe, four in Asia, two in the Middle East, five in South America and 14 in the rest of the world. Theo Karpathios, CEO of International and Wholesale for SuperGroup, talks about the brand.
He said: “Western Europe is the biggest market for us – particularly Belgium, a very developed marketplace, with 20 Superdry stores - 16 of which are owned by daughter company SuperGroup Europe, and four of them are franchises. There are also a large number of stores in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland and Italy.” Karpathios said Superdry is targeted at the student and young professional aged 16-25, but the appeal of the clothing is much wider.
He explains: “People have become more discerning and seeking value for money but they always need cutting edge products with good design and quality - and this is where Superdry can deliver. “For the younger person who is still at school or a young professional, the most important thing is to look good.” The brand operates a mix model format with 16 own stores in Belgium, concessions in department stores and franchised stores - which tend to be of a smaller format. He said the most recent notable openings have been in South Street Seaport in New York City, Piazza Duomo in Milan, Zurich in Switzerland and Nathan Road in Hong Kong in the past couple of months. “The brand is really coveted globally and we are trying to open stores around the world to cover demand.
“The most important part of the strategy is to keep our market diversified. When one market is in recession another market will be booming. This is why we thought it was extremely important from the beginning to be present in so many markets.
“We aim to open 50 international stores a year – a figure we will have achieved by the end of our financial year in April.
“We have two stores opening in Kuwait before Christmas and in 2012 we will be opening in Florence and in Indonesia, we are expanding our stores in Seoul, Korea, opening another in Macau, two more in Spain, locations in Johannesburg, South Africa, a flagship in Taiwan, two flagship stores in the UAE and Santa Monica, Third Street Promenade in California, USA.
“At the moment we are in discussions with a number of partners about opening in the remaining countries in the Middle East and the Far East, especially China - which is where the company’s focus is at the moment.”
Speaking about the company’s flagship stores, Karpathios said the brand’s prominent store on Regent Street, London, due to open early next year, would be the flagship for the world.
For the full article please see the RLI November 2011 issue
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