Fortune Favours The Bold : Virgil's epic poem find spirit in the high street reshuffle

Where brands have failed in the recent past, opportunity to move forward on the Monopoly board of the High Street has been created for the lucky few retailers. These brands will have business models attuned with the economy and collections that match the mood.

So what happens to the rest of the players, when the Railroads are occupied? Ah, they still get their roll of the dice and when they haven't landed on a Chance Card, they creatively sub-divide their neighbor's property and set up shop.

The BOLD innovators behind the new High Street creations are Mary Portas, Peter Davies and Nicky Dulieu. You may know Mary Portas from the TV show, Mary Queen of Shops, but the other two dynamic movers work behind the scenes from the eye of the general public. I am here to fill you in.

As a designer of luxury retail spaces, Mary Portas is one of my heroes. Championing the expulsion of retail shop blight is a noble cause that surely deserves an MBE. Not only has she contributed on improving the image of average British indie clothing shop, but she has valiantly raised the expectations of the customer. (I may start a campaign.) She also has the talent and courage to align a brand’s collections with its identity. My perfect job would be to consult as a brand guardian and do just that. I would be great at it.

Portas has great business acumen. First she let the great British public see her as the firm, yet compassionate High Street look/feel authority. Then, she named Primark as her opposition. Any great new leader needs a lumbering giant to leverage against. Think of JFK and his ability to convince the American public that the 50s were an era of complacency. He reminded Americans that there were still adventures to be had, which sparked the space race and a vein of national optimism that people still refer to nostalgically. Mary Portas has named the charity shop the new frontier and it is!

I've tried to find a picture of the LVMH store and Mary's Living and Giving Shop in the same shot at Westfield, but fortunately for LVMH, I cannot find one. While I am not a huge fan of slat wall, no discount shop can be without it and Mary Portas makes it look cool again. http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/mary-portas-shop-at-westfield-article-8291.html


Innovator Peter Davies, the chairman of Clarks also has an eye for bold opportunity and fortune.
When Principles grabbed the short straw out of the Mosaic Fashions brands, talent was released. Atypically there wasn’t a need to coax and court the talented team under a new roof. As the economy of Iceland melted, Peter saw opportunity and created Mint Velvet, utilizing the core Principles retail team.

Mint Velvet has found a home in House of Fraser stores and etails from their website. Their moody grey concessions nicely lull you into the mood to embrace their bold new venture and it is worth a browse. Their casuals and separates collections for the over 30s are best experienced in person, but you can check them out at http://www.mintvelvet.com/.


Our third bold innovator is Nicky Dulieu, the Chief Executive of Hobbs. I scour the hidden Retail Gems (The name of my personal index of who is doing what in retail and succeeding.) for the latest and greatest daily, but somehow the new contemporary sub-brand of NW3 has flown under my radar for months. My eyes must have been focusing on all things luxury-esque, but I am very familiar with the adverts. www.hobbs.co.uk/nw3.

NW3 is the new contemporary sub-brand of Hobbs. As diffusion brands generally go, this one targets a younger and female clientele. Piloting as a concession within four Hobbs stores and dipping its toe firmly in the water with a flagship this next year, NW3 is going for “quintessentially English with a modern twist.” Fashionable mums and daughters will soon be shopping together.

Nicky’s bold vision is to create a diffusion brand for a successful (profitable) high street brand and bring in the right person to direct it. She cleverly has brought in the deftly experienced Alana Mazza as the Retail Director to deliver the new Hobbs and NW3 concepts, which will both receive a make-over in their fusion.

If successful, NW3 a namesake for the postcode where Hobbs debuted, will sub-divide the Monopoly High Street with a further 55 stores.

I was surprised to learn that the design firm selected for this bold venture, barely has a retail portfolio, so I’m going to visit their Regent Street store to assess the success. I’ll let you know what I find!