Gerry Weber to expand European retail

Gerry Weber, the German fashion house, is expanding in east Europe and Scandinavia. The company is branching out its boutique portfolio and opening new stores in Poland, as well as new flagships in Czech, Slovakia and Sweden.

Previously the company expanded in The Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, making Europe one of its strongest markets.

The company stated its expansion place will allow for "better control over the brand image as well as more direct access to end customers”.

Head of retail operations Ralf Weber said: “Thanks to long-standing experience, the company has been able to gain important knowledge of the output markets and to establish the brand with consumers.”

Europe remains the key market

The company also said its 21.2 percent jump in nine-month retail revenues to 259.7 million euros is primarily attributable to the new stores opened over the past years.

As of July 31, the retail segment accounted for around 43.8 percent of total sales revenues, compared to 38.6 percent the previous year. This share is expected to increase to 50 percent in the medium term, it added.

With another House of Gerry Weber store opening soon in a prime location in Gdynia, near Gdansk, the number of Polish stores will increase to 17, with another five to follow next year.

Based on “excellent market analyses and the high brand awareness”, the company sees potential for a total of 25 stores in Poland, where it is regarded as a high-end brand.

The retailer will also enter the Czech market in December with a store at the upscale EKZ Novy Smichov Center in Prague. Another two units are scheduled to begin trading in the Czech capital before the end of fiscal year 2013/14.

Meanwhile, the first company-managed retail store in Bratislava, Slovakia, is set to open “in the coming months”.

In Scandinavia, retail activity will again focus on prime locations in the large metropolitan cities, it said. The first company-managed House of Gerry Weber unit will debut in in Malmö, Sweden, in the first half of fiscal year 2013/14, with two stores in Stockholm shopping centres “to follow shortly”.

Image: Gerry Weber