Harvey Nichols to expand young fashion

Specialising in international luxury lifestyle brands, department store Harvey Nichols unveiled at 2009 World Retail Congress it has plans to launch a young fashion offer in the beginning of next year. As part of chief executive Joseph Wan’s strategy to beat the downturn, the fourth floor of the London flagship located in Knightbridge will be transformed this August. The new young fashion range will be officially launched in January/February 2009.

Harvey Nichols traditionally targets shoppers between 25 and 45, has chosen to target younger shoppers who are between 15 – 21 years and never experienced previous recessions. This group is unlikely to curb their spending, which forms part of Wan’s three-pronged approach to boost business during the downturn.

Wan said that his decision to publicise details of Harvey Nichols’ profit fall in its last financial year represented positive action, because in his view, it provided clarity and allowed staff to focus on improving performance. “The purpose of the headlines was to get the bad news out of the way and trade forward with confidence and optimism”, he said.

Regardless of the length and depth of the recession Wan was confident that Harvey Nichols could look forward to renewed profit growth.

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