House of Fraser gears up for debut Chinese opening

London - Department store group House of Fraser is preparing for its debut store opening in China, after the original launch date in spring 2016 was pushed back due to plans for the Chinese New Year.

In its financial update for the 26 weeks to July 30, 2016, released Tuesday morning, HoF revealed that they had made "good progress" with its store opening plan in China, through House of Fraser Limited. The debut store opening is now set to take place in late 2016 and will see a new store in Nanjing opening, inspired by its "iconic Frasers store in Glasgow."

House of Fraser prepares for first store opening in Nanjing

The new store aims to offer Chinese shoppers a unique retail experience, while offering a wide range of international and local brands. The official opening date has yet to be revealed, but HoF noted that the opening ceremony will take place at the end of the year. The announcement was made as the department store group reported flat sales for the first half of fiscal year 2016, following a successful few years on Tuesday morning.

Although HoF is currently facing similar trading conditions in the UK as its high street rivals, and "expect this uncertain economic situation to remain for some time". However, in light of volatile conditions, the department store group still believes there is "significant opportunity" to set up House of Fraser as a "global brand." "Whilst we are still at the very early stages of our international expansion plans, we are pleased to be opening our first Chinese store in Nanjing," said Frank Slevin, Executive Chairman of House of Fraser in a statement.

"The store will clearly demonstrate the unique status that House of Fraser can achieve in the market and will be a standout platform for our concession and brand partners." Back in 2014, when Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group acquired House of Fraser, founder Yuan Yafei shared his global vision for HoF, which included additional stores throughout Russia and the Middle East and as many as 50 stores in China.

However since then the has company pushed back its April launch date for its debut store opening in Nanjing, and has yet to reveal more information concerning its other Chinese store opening in second tier cities such as Xuzhou and Chongqing. These delays have been linked to Sanpower failure to provide the promised capital boost according to sources close to the Financial Times, as well as changes to the HoF's executive team and renewed plans for House of Fraser's debut in China.

For example, instead of opening a series of new store, Sanpower has been quietly renovating a series of its currently held properties to be reopened under the name Oriental Fraser. Nevertheless, Slevin remains adamant that the department store group is on course both in the UK and in China and has the right team in place to excel in the future.

"With the calibre of our management and our ambitions for growth, we remain confident that our strategy, premium positioning, multichannel offering and leading brand proposition position us well for the future to create value for all our stakeholders," he added.

Photo 1: HoF AW16 Womenswear

Photo 2: HoF Glasgow, via Flickr