Leading UK menswear brand, Skopes, has opened its 20th, and largest, bricks-and-mortar store in White Rose Shopping Centre, Leeds.
The new location marks both a major expansion for the heritage tailoring brand and a homecoming to the city where it was originally founded in 1948.
Skopes CEO Simon Cope officially opened the store this weekend together with Married at First Sight star and brand ambassador Matt Jameson.
The grand opening of the store was attended by hundreds of people including VIP guests Leeds Rhinos legend and MND campaigner Kevin Sinfield CBE, former Leeds United captain Ross McCormack, and other Leeds United legends Ben Parker, Andy Couzens, Noel Whelan.
The new 3,800 sq ft flagship store has created eight new jobs and offers a full range of menswear, including suits, outerwear, shirts, footwear and accessories in a variety of styles, fits, and colours as well as plus sizing up to a 62 in chest.
The store has been several years in the making and mixes the brand’s manufacturing heritage with a modern colour scheme to create a light bright and welcoming environment.
The layout eschews typical product categories, instead being organised by clearly defined, yet changing style trends and themes, such as ‘Getting Hitched’ and ‘Ready for the Races’ and includes a large fitting area, to accommodate a full wedding party.
Like other Skopes stores, the White Rose location will also be offering ‘quick turnaround’ alterations for customers, ensuring everyone gets the perfect fit.
Skopes has a rich history, dating back 76 years to when it was founded by Sydney Cope. Today, the brand is led by the third generation of the family, CEO Simon Cope, and has continued to expand its reach across the UK.
The nationwide chain opened the first of its next generation concept stores in Westfield, London in 2018, since adding Meadowhall, Sheffield and the Metro Centre in Newcastle. The White Rose store will be the 20th overall, with further stores planned for 2025.
Simon expressed his happiness about the store’s launch: “We’re so proud to have launched our new flagship store in Leeds, right where everything began. I’m delighted that so many people showed up to support us, it made the opening feel like a real celebratory event.
“Opening a store in our home city has been on the agenda for a few years and we’ve been waiting for the right location to become available. White Rose Centre has offered us the chance to showcase our full range of clothing, footwear and accessories and to connect with our local customers in a special way. “I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who attended, for helping us to launch our biggest store with a brilliant party.
Speaking about the store, Mike Barber, head of retail at Skopes, added: “Since we launched our first concept store in Westfield London in 2018, we’ve refined and improved the shopping experience we offer our customers. We believed then, and we still believe now, that the consumer deserves better. Our aim is to go above and beyond the usual high street experience, every time a customer walks through the door. A fact borne out by our best-in-class Trustpilot rating.
“The Leeds store has been designed with our customer at its heart. We’ve added plenty of informal dwell spaces for our teams to chat with customers and really get to know their personality so we can understand what they need.
“The role of the suit in men’s lives has changed dramatically since the pandemic and the five-days-a-week suited and booted look for the office is virtually a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean the suit is dead. We’ve we said from the outset that we did not want a boring ‘suits you, sir’ old-fashioned store. Our customers now want suits for specific occasions and events, which our store lay-out reflects.”
