New Look is trying a new look - again

FASHION retailer New Look is to close its flagship store for a complete revamp only 18 months after its celebrity launch. The shop in Oxford Street, London, cost £3 million to transform into a space age, colourful fashion destination and won a design award soon after it opened in August last year.

Though the showcase outlet designed by Future Systems beat sales targets and was praised by design critics, problems arose within months.

Small plastic marbles embedded in the floor kept popping out. That caused problems for shoppers and forced New Look to put down a clear plastic covering. The warehouse styling was not popular with some customers and the tills were poorly positioned.

Chief executive Phil Wrigley said the decision to close the store for two weeks in the spring was not a disaster, but rather a 'celebration of success'.

'We did it as a trial and it's been a great experience,' he said. 'A lot of things have been a huge success-and we have used them widely in our other new stores. Some of the elements such as the bare ceiling rafts were just too grungy and there's work to be done on the sub-branding of our collections by Eley Kishimoto and Luella Bartley. Some of it was just confusing.'

Future Systems has been retained for the revamp and Wrigley said relations with the architect behind Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre remained cordial.

New Look, which was taken private in a £700 million deal backed by private equity group Permira last April, has since seen an eight per cent rise in sales over the year and is expected to report a doubledigit increase over Christmas. Profits for the year are expected to be about £95 million.

'This is the right time to be a private company,' said Wrigley. 'In the short term, it is much easier to do the things we want to do now that we can completely focus on performance instead of the distractions of a long due diligence process and dealing with the City.'

Wrigley said the chain was on track to double the size of the UK business over the next five years and was discussing launching an international franchise to add to its successful Mim store chain in France.

New Look, based in Weymouth, Dorset, is Britain's third-biggest womenswear chain with more than 500 stores and a further 190 in France.

'We've had a good run, but we are not complacent,' said Wrigley, who took over as chief executive following the privatisation after four years as managing director.

'I keep telling the team I think we are a great retailer, but we are not yet a great brand.'

Since taking over from former boss Stephen Sunnucks, Wrigley has doubled the size of the design team and hired new buyers. He has also launched a five-store pilot of children's clothes, which will be reviewed next month.