hannah nelsonthe retail environment

wednesday 12:00pm

to create a brand that blends culture, fashion and music into a potent formula of desirable clothing that expresses individuality and attitude.

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“AllSaints Spitalfields

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eAllSaints Spitafields is a British fashion retailer based out of London. Since the company’s beginning the brand has expanded on a global scale with 63 stand-alone stores and 47 concessions around the world. In addition to its brick&mortar locations, AllSaints has a strong online presence through its’ website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel.

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I was initially drawn to brand because of the nature of the clothing and the ambiance of the store. While in New York City, I decided to stop in their SoHo location for the first time. Inside I found exposed brickwork, wooden flooring, industrial lighting and walls lined with rows of vintage Singer sewing machines. The clothing featured asymmetrical cuts, distressed denim, and vintage leather goods - all in a mono-chromatic color scheme. I appreciated the company’s atten-tion to detail, design and layout. I was excited to find that there was a store here in San Francisco and decided to fur-ther investigate the company.

Founded in In 1994 by Stuart Trevor.

Began as a wholesale menswear brand that sold merchandise exclusively to British

high-end retailers such as Harvey Nicols and Harrods.

Named after All Saints Road in Notting Hill, London. This location was known as

a center for the arts, music and design scene. AllSaints has “had a long-standing

history of collaborating with emerging talent in the British music industry”

In 1997 AllSaints opened its first stand-alone location in Foubet Place off of Carnaby

Street in London. A year later it launched its first womenswear collection.

Six years later, Stuart sold AllSaints to Kevin Stanford and Stephan Craig.

By the end of 2006, the retailer had launched its’ first website.

In 2010 AllSaints was negatively impacted financially as a result of the Icelandic

banking collapse.

A corporation named Lion Capital saved the company. With their help, the brand

has seen a 50% rise in profits since 2012.

Over the past 2 years, AllSaints flagships stores have opened across the U.S in

New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston and Seattle.

In the next 3 years the company plans to open 30-50 more locations worldwide.

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The company facilitates the culmination of culture, art and music through customer service by providing a consistent experience throughout all locations. Store associates are re-quired to wear only AllSaints merchandise. They must also be knowledgeable of the current season’s products, designs, colors and trends. In addition, the company ensures that the brand transitions from instore to online by providing the same brand image, identity and merchandise for the consumer.

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AllSaints is “always on the look out for friendly, driven and forward thinking individuals”. The retailer has 8 core brand values that their employees are motivated by.

Since the company is still relatively small, communication between associates, manag-ers and other districts is close. Information from associates to the general public is harder to get – associates “not allowed to talk about the brand or comment on the concept”

humility hunger decisiveness instinctivenessloyalty individuality honesty dedication

AGE: 18-35GENDER: Predominately femaleETHNICITY MIX: Caucasian, Asian, African American, EuropeanINCOME LEVELS: Middle to upper class

DEMOGRAPHICS:AllSaints customers are predominately females between ages18-30. Many who shop at the store are regular “retun-ing” customers, as well as tourists, families and couples. They were mixed in ethnicity & appeared to have moderate to high-income levels.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS:Young, style conscious adults who possess the disposable income for trendy, alternative pieces of clothing. The ambi-ance of the store has a grungy, rugged “Tim Burton-esque” type feel. Therefore, those who this store might appeal to are individuals who are drawn to a dark aesthetic in terms of fash-ion, clothing, art and music. They value creating art, attending and watching fashion shows, and being involved in the music industry. They may be interested in unconventional music and design, craftsmanship, fine details, and items that are noteasily identifiable.

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nAllSaints came to the San Francisco area 2 years ago. The retailer is located on Geary St in Union Square. This site is a heavy traffic area that attracts high-in-come level shoppers, as well as many tourists.

Competitors in close proximity, include John Varvatos, Azadeh, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, G-Star Raw, Paul Smith, Vince, Louis Vuit-ton, and Salvatore Ferragamo. These stores fall relatively within the same price range or higher & offer the same type of merchandise.

Originated in the UK. Globally expanded in terms of location & accessibility. 2 channels - Brick&mortar stores & online. Multiple channels allows the company to further penetrate the market, reach a larger customer base and gives customers a va-riety of ways to experience the brand & products.

Allsaints carries a wide variety of merchandise instore and on-line. “The privately held retailer has been described as glam-our-meets-grunge, with many prices between $100 and $200”. It caters to men and women in terms of selection. Major clas-sifications of available products include clothing, footwear and accessories. At the Geary street location offers men’s, wom-en’s and children’s clothing, footwear and accessories

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The average price for new season merchandise at AllSaints is between $30-$700. Sale merchandise falls between $20-$385. “AllSaints sits at the high end of affordable, with lower prices than major fashion houses but more exclusivity than Zara and H&M. The $150 to $200 range is a price point that makes it “very difficult for other, cheaper operators to replicate what they do,” says analyst Sarah Peters of the retail consul-tancy Verdict.”. AllSaints merchandise is more affordable and accessible than similar designer garment from Vivienne Westwood, Helmut Lang & Yohji Yamamoto.

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AllSaints uses a discreet promotional approach. “According to their promotional strategy, advertising isn’t part of the mix — they rely on word of mouth approval”

Online interactive communication - news updates onallsaints.com, Facebook, Twitter and YouTubeOffline interactive communication - seasonal sales after each collection. Discount codes via email. Online passive communication - daily emails to their customers who signup for their newsletter. Offline passive communication - none

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Since the label launched in 1994, AllSaints has become an intenationally recognizable brand with a new perspective and distinct voice. The company has expanded on across the globe, offering vintage inspired pieces from London to San Francisco. AllSaints strives to maintain a unique point of view in terms of combining culture, fashion, art and music. With new stores planned in Asia, Europe, and America there is no stopping the British fashion invasion!