Tie Rack sets out new stall

IT was one of the legendary names of the Eighties' niche retailing boom. Tie Rack's small, bright kiosk-style stores popped up on every High Street, jostling for space beside the other brash newcomers, from shaving stores to blouse boutiques.

Its shares could have been sold 85 times over when Tie Rack floated in 1987 and the company was valued at more than £100m.

Yet 12 years later, the chain was sold for just £22m and the only comfort for founder Roy Bishko was that he had held on for so long. His contemporaries, apart from Anita and Gordon Roddick at The Body Shop, had sold out years earlier.

Today, after four years spent rebuilding the shattered company, new owner Frangi, an Italian scarf and tie manufacturer, is finally prepared to go public with its formula to make Tie Rack great again.

'The niche retailers stood still for too long,' explains Simone Frangi, chairman of Tie Rack. 'It's the British mentality; they are too conservative. They find something that works and stick with it, but shoppers expect more.'

Frangi's solution is to increase substantially the range of goods at Tie Rack, adding leather accessories --such as bags and shoes - hats, chunky knit scarves and jewellery to appeal to women as well as men. The idea is also to target a younger age group.

'Our customers were just getting older with the brand,' says Frangi.

'It makes sense to remove the reliance on a single product and attract female customers with an up-to-date, broader range. It is women who make most shopping decisions, after all.'

Opinion is divided about what caused the problems for the pioneersof niche retailing. Some believe it is the simple law of retailing that a good idea will quickly be copied by the larger operators. Rapid expansion at sky-high rents is seen as another pitfall.

The new generation of retail specialists are a long way from getting it right, say the experts.

Richard Hyman, chairman of retail consultancy Verdict, believes they are on the wrong track altogether.

'The problem with small formula convenience fashion retailers is that they are quintessentially impulse stores, not destination stores,' he says.

'Being a specialist, it is a struggle to gain the sales volumes to maintain turnover. Tie Rack wants to add other things because there is not enough sales volume in ties, but will there be enough sales in anything else?'

For others, Frangi's steadfast refusal to change Tie Rack's name is a crucial stumbling point. One retail analyst said: 'Obviously, everyone thinks of Tie Rack in terms of ties. What is there to change their opinion if they don't change the name?'

Frangi is unrepentant. 'Carphone Warehouse sells more than car phones but is hugely successful. In time, people will associate Tie Rack with accessories and we could easily be the number one player.' To mark its transformation, Tie Rack has a new monochrome and steel design for its flagship store in Oxford Street, London, which is 'less masculine and less cluttered'.

Twenty UK stores will receive the makeover in the next 12 months.

It's a cautious comeback for Tie Rack and only time will tell whether High Street shoppers are prepared to give it another chance.