Exciting times ahead for Lifestyle Retail
The term lifestyle retail has been around for decades, broadly meaning a store selling a wide variety of product categories under a single brand, designed to associate a brand with one or another aspirational lifestyle. It is not necessarily an easy space to operate within, just look at the mixed fortunes of Habitat, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Muji.
This hybrid form of consumerism – Lifestyle Retail – is therefore one that I believe is set to keep growing, even as some shoppers rein in their spending due to the cost of living crisis, and will take the retail occupational market in interesting directions.
Department stores do not technically fall into the lifestyle retail category although you could perhaps argue Selfridges is an exception. I have always felt department stores did, or at least tried to capture the spirit of lifestyle retail. Ultimately, perhaps those department stores which have failed in the UK did not execute the lifestyle proposition well enough, as what is central to the success of a lifestyle retailer is forensically knowing your customer and being able to upsell them a brand proposition.
In addition, that fundamental department store aspect of a one stop shop appealing to shopper behaviour hasn’t changed, but it is evolving, as consumers demand more of their shopping trips and increasingly view them as an extension of their leisure activities.
This hybrid form of consumerism – Lifestyle Retail – is therefore one that I believe is set to keep growing, even as some shoppers rein in their spending due to the cost of living crisis, and will take the retail occupational market in interesting directions.
Take garden centres: I’ve been aware for some time now that they have been evolving their offer, away from their horticultural roots (pun unintended!). Often from a very local level, they have determined that if they present their customers with a broader range of goods, coupled to outstanding customer service, they can grow sales. They have also been quick to develop family friendly facilities, from the obvious café, through petting farms to adventure trails, all of which increase dwell time and repeat visits. Historically mainly located on out of town or edge of town sites, including more recently retail parks, they have the benefits of ease of access, copious amounts of free parking, and the space to easily expand retail sales areas. It can be argued garden centres are the latest example of a lifestyle retailer.
Garden centres have already picked up some of the custom that was previously directed at the mid-range department stores that have now closed. I actually wonder if the garden centre has captured much of the former department store sector spending by stealth, with a transfer of that spend from in town to out of town. I believe there is considerable room for growth and expansion in this sector. Dobbies, one of the largest brands in the UK, currently has less than 70 outlets. Dobbie’s recent decision to build a new 110,000 sq ft outlet at The Junction, Antrim, Northern Ireland is indicative of the direction of travel, as is Blue Diamond’s development of two new outlets at Scotch Corner (North Yorkshire) and Thetford (Norfolk).
I’m also keeping a watchful eye on farm shops. Some of the savvier operators could well see the potential of expanding their business from their single farm origins and branch out in the same way garden centres already are. Daylesford, for example, shows how this might be done.
Despite the disappearance of well-known department store brands, Lifestyle Retail opportunities will, I’m convinced, continue to present themselves in town,as well as out of town. Well-established brands such as Selfridges and Alsterhaus in Hamburg and newer entrants such as Soho Home demonstrate that there is entrenched demand for well executed concepts that provide a combination of excellent products with a great day out. The expansion of the lifestyle sector will greatly benefit the continuing revitalisation of UK town centres. Imagine further the excitement of being able to bring a hybrid version of the garden centre to down town locations as the call for more open and green space in our towns increases and we look to create more environmentally and sustainable places.
Article by Hannah McNamara
Photo credits: Unsplash
