​Hunkemöller eyes up UK expansion

London - Leading European lingerie brand Hunkemöller has its sights set on dominating the UK market, as the brand explores options to open a series of standalone stores across the country.

Philip Mountford, Hunkemöller's chief executive, revealed that the lingerie giant is currently considering several options to open brick and mortar store in the UK, including a potential location on London's Oxford Street. A Hunkemöller spokesperson previously revealed to FashionUnited UK that the lingerie retailer could possibly opened its own stores or concession in the UK, but noted that there were "no firm plans" in place at the time. However, now the lingerie brand hopes to open its first UK store by the end of 2018-2019, but Mountford believes that the opening could come even sooner if the right opportunity arises, as he believes Hunkemöller holds great potential in the UK.

Hunkemöller aims to open debut UK store by the end of 2017

"The UK is dominated by retailers like Marks & Spencer and Debenhams," said Mountford to the Daily Mail on Sunday. "We fit perfectly into the niche between M&S and Victoria’s Secret." Hunkemöller's UK push comes a few months after the lingerie brand launched its dedicated UK webstore. The Dutch brand was previously available in the UK through Hunkemöller's global e-commerce platform, but following its acquisition by the Carlyle Group in late 2015, it began its accelerated expansion scheme which sees the lingerie brand opening stores in Kuwait, Russia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, New Zealand and Trinidad between 2016-2018.

"We’ve got 900 stores," added Mountford. "We’re about to go into Switzerland and Norway and our team is looking at London.When we find the right opportunity we will go in." Hunkemöller previously operated a concession stand in House of Fraser Oxford Street store in 2011, but eventually withdraw from the UK, opting to remain active online. At the time of Hunkemöller's dedicated UK web store opening last year, the lingerie retailer's business was increasing 53 percent annually on a like-for-like basis, as the company aims to see omni-channel sales account for 10 percent of its global sales by the end of the year.

Hunkemöller UK expansion strategy comes as the Dutch lingerie label aims to continue rolling out its activewear label HKMX further across Europe. Over the last two years, Hunkemöller's HKMX label has continued to grow, achieving a turnover of 20 million euros (16.9 million pounds) in 2016. Hunkemöller opened its debut HKMX flagship store in Berlin, Germany, last week as the brand aims to open another 3 stores later this year and open a total of 50 standalone HKMX stores over the next five years.

Photos: Hunkemöller flagship store in the Kalverstraat and HKMX store in Berlin.