Spotlight on independent retailers: Black White Denim

Award-winning womenswear independent Black White Denim, based in Wilmslow, Cheshire, was established by Jo Davies after she took a break from her demanding career as sales director for a big global corporation following the birth of her son Gabriel. Davies saw a gap in the market for a true concept store with an eclectic mix of international brands and established Black White Denim in September 2010, adding a transactional website six months later. The store has become a popular destination for fashionable ladies across the North of England and far beyond. FashionUnited talks shop with Davies and finds out what makes the store standout from the crowd.

What is the USP of Black White Denim?

When we contemplated the business, we wanted to create a concept rather than open just another clothes shop. The idea was that black, white and denim are the core colours and components of a woman’s wardrobe, and we built the concept around that. For the first two or three years we only bought ranges in those colours, but very gradually we started to introduce a wider variety of shades. It was a learning curve, we had to understand what our customers wanted and how far they wanted to go in terms of colour. A lot of the time our customers would say: ‘I love that you also have this style in green … but I’ll but the black one’. So it was about getting the balance right. I think the industry generally over the last eight years or so has been pretty mad about prints and colour, so not to do that would be entirely the wrong thing, because that shows that we are not really aware of what’s going on and what the consumer wants. So we’re trying to blend the two, and this works together perfectly.

Who is your customer profile?

The majority of our business comes from women between 35 and 55; they’re in good shape, they enjoy shopping, they are also into interiors, going out, travelling; they make the most of themselves, whatever that may mean, whether that’s beauty treatments or going to the gym or whatever. They take great pride in their appearance, they enjoy that kind of adrenaline rush of buying something that makes them look good. The majority of our customers don’t work, they manage the family unit, but in addition to that we also have very successful women who run their own businesses or are barristers, doctors, surgeons. We also have younger girls in their first few years of their careers who now have a pay packet and want to treat themselves. And then we have those ladies who are terrified of shopping, haven’t got a clue and come here because we make them feel it’s ok and we can help them.

How important is the e-commerce side to your bricks and mortar business?

When we first started the business, we felt that online was something we had to be a part of, we had to drive, we had to invest in. What we have found over the years is that actually chasing the very costly online pound where the consumer is nowhere near as loyal, shops for different reasons, i.e. for convenience and price, not service and quality, is not on our priority list in terms of sales channels. We are much stronger in front of customers face to face, in the shop, or on Instagram. Our Instagram profile is a very good representation of what happens in our store and in and around Wilmslow. Online is about 10 per cent of our overall sales. It’s not bad, it’s definitely worth having, but it’s not where we focus our time.

The problem is, in the space that we are operating in, there are many other online players who have very different, much bigger, budgets to get to the customer. And to try and compete would actually kill off the rest of the business. We choose to use our website as a shop window, as a reference point for people who shop with us to see what we’ve got in, and a reference point for people who can’t get to us because of either work or time or geographical constraints.

You launched menswear last year. How is this performing?

It’s going well. We had some space in our shop on the first floor that hadn’t been utilised, and we also had a few customers who wanted something really simple for their menfolk to wear, something good quality, not too fashionable, but that looked like they had made a bit of an effort. We talked to some of our ladieswear brands that we already stocked who also did menswear and asked whether they wanted to join us on menswear. So we have Bella Freud knitwear, Veja, Paige Denim, Samsoe & Samsoe, Harris Wharf. The menswear is very much a reflection of the ladieswear.

Do you tend to swap and change labels season after season, or do you work with them long-term?

We know who our anchor brands are, and we do try new things, because that’s really important as an independent. We’re nimble enough to be able to do that without making huge commitments to stock. We’ll invariably have something new joining us, and depending on what the brand is offering or what gap we need to fill in store, we’ll either go the whole hog and heavily invest, or we will literally just do a very small buy and see what happens. But the customer always expects us to be doing the discovery bit for them.

How important is exclusivity to you?

Exclusivity in terms of a style or product isn’t really that important. We’re not really big enough to demand that. It’s nice to have if we can get it, but I’m not putting a huge amount of emphasis on that. Exclusivity in terms of geographical distribution on the other hand is really important. We ask all the brands that we stock to respect our geography and our destination status. And to do that you can’t have a range that you have selected carefully, also stocked in a shop down the road. So, we ask that we have a ten-mile radius / 15-minute drive in terms of exclusivity. We put a lot of effort into finding newness, and there’s nothing more frustrating than the shop round the corner going: ‘Oh yeah, that’s a nice label, I’ll do it, too’.

You also have your own line, Black White Denim. Is this a wholesale brand, or just stocked in your store?

It’s stocked only in our shop and a childrenswear shop in Hale that I am friendly with, who wanted to offer some womenswear basics. We tried wholesale, but I was the main person driving it and the reward wasn’t worth the effort. For now, I’m happy with just having it in store, the direct-to-consumer model works for us, rather than selling to other retailers. It’s a line of premium basics that are wardrobe staples.

Next May we’re also launching another, very limited, direct-to-consumer collection under the Black White Denim brand, but it’s called ‘50 Pieces’. One of my – very few – frustrations in fashion is that when I find a piece that I truly love, and have worn and worn literally to death, I can’t then get again because fashion always moves on. Like my wonderful Acne silk dress that I bought 8 years ago. So I’ve used those pieces for inspiration to create new ones, based on the key elements, be that the feel of the fabric or the cut of it or whatever it might be, and created our own exclusive range. There will only be 50 pieces made, so when it’s gone it’s gone. Our first collection includes a maxi dress, a Bardot style dress, a cami, a jumpsuit and a knee-length summery dress. The colours will be our branding - black, white, denim - to start with, and then we’ll see how it goes and what the customer reaction is.

How do you ensure you keep engaging with your customers and building and maintaining a loyal clientele?

We are in constant contact with people through emails, and we use Instagram very effectively to showcase new products, to convey just a little bit of our personality, to communicate about any events that are coming up, to display what customers are wearing and so on. The social channels have made it easier to do that.

Instagram has transformed our business over the last couple of years. We’ve had two years now of exceptional growth; we’ve been 40 per cent up last year on the previous year and the year before that we were another 40 per cent up. I would put a lot of that down to the impact of Instagram and our constant dialogue with our customers. We try to make them feel a part of what we do here, and they seem to respond well to that.

You also work with ‘influencers’, too?

Yes, we recently did an event with Kat Farmer from DoesmyBumLook40. I’ve known Kat since we opened the store. She started her blog about two years before we opened, and I’ve known her when she had 4000 followers and not 104 000. The same with WearsMyMoney, Kate Hiscox. I knew her when she only had a handful of followers. Those relationships, they are heart felt and true; they both come to the shop because they love what we do, not because I pay them to do it. They get lots of that from Marks & Spencer and other stores like that, but it’s a true sign of respect and appreciation that they choose to come here. That’s what happens, when you are kind to people and build relationship based on honesty, trust and gratitude, it pays off. I’m definitely not chasing that whole influencer market. I would much rather they come to me, because I feel it’s how it works best.

Do you plan more store openings, or have you ever been tempted to?

I have considered franchising, and I have considered opening another shop. But there’s only one of me, and being on the shop floor is a massive part of what I love, it’s the reason I opened the business. I think it’s key to be on the shop floor. You can’t understand your customer if you can’t see them. So, I don’t want to be an operator that’s just driving from store to store, worrying about where stock is, worrying about whether staff have turned up, worrying about rates and overheads and so on. I have thought about franchising – not particularly deeply, admittedly – and yes, maybe we’ll go down that route one day. Because we are a very lean, profitable business now, we have a formula that works. But does that make you franchisable? Probably, but I would have to work out the finer details of this first.

How are you finding being an independent boutique in the digital age?

I know a lot of businesses struggle and feel it’s a difficult environment. And it is, no doubt, but I don’t think it’s awful. I love the challenge. Because we’ve gone through a rollercoaster, we’ve had incredibly tough times, times when I have considered throwing the towel in years ago. Anyone opening an independent store now, in 2018, has a much easier start than we did it in 2010, when we were in the midst of a recession, and when online fashion had only just started taking off with the likes of Net-a-porter etc. and then all your throw-away fashion, like your Boohoo, Missguided, Pretty Little Thing and so on. We had every single obstacle put in our way, the recession, adverse weather, unseasonal trading conditions; then the industry was going mad for colour and print just as we were going down the black, white, denim route. People were moving away from the high street, stores were closing. We’ve been attacked by every single economic factor we could have done, and we’re still here, so I think that teaches just a bit about resilience and belief, and a genuine love of what we do. The thing is, if you want to be a success, you can’t give up.

I think independent boutiques who’ve got a strong proposition and a great team of staff are in a really brilliant position now to do really well, because people are coming back to the high street. They are fed up of anonymous transactions online, they are fed up of going to department stores and not being able to get the stuff they want, they are fed up of driving miles to get to shopping malls, they want to go out into their local centres and see stores where people have a smile on their face and knowledge of the brands they sell.

What are your key challenges as an indie?

I think the main challenge is keeping very agile and moving. You can’t sit back and think just because it’s working now it will be working again next season. Always keep your eye out for an opportunity, do small things, but do them really, really well. Give every single customer a first-class VIP experience because still, although it’s the digital age, we get the most referrals from word of mouth. My shop here feels like an extension of my home, the kettle’s always on, there’s usually some wine in the fridge, we have some nice seating, and if people just want to come in and have chat, they can.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities for independents going forward?

I do think that people want to re-connect with their communities again, in terms of pubs and restaurants and shops, especially shops that are different and are run by people who are passionate about their business. We’re going to see more shops opening and re-opening, and more shops being successful. There’s no doubt that the digital age is going to be around and carry on growing, and more and more companies will be tapping into the fashion arena - Amazon being a prime example. But I’m focused on what’s here in front of me, on our door steps, I’m not chasing the money in Australia, America or wherever it may be. Most of our online business is either local, and people will click and collect from here, or London. To have an audience in London that shops here with us in Wilmslow, is brilliant. There’s room for both, but I know where I would prefer to go when I’m shopping.

Photo credit: Black White denim