Abercrombie & Fitch plans second UK store

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Apr 17, 2018

Abercrombie & Fitch is bringing its first UK prototype store, with a smaller format and more personalised features, to Manchester’s Intu Trafford Centre this August.

This will be the second full-price UK location for the brand, and the second prototype store to open outside the US. Seven prototype stores have been completed since the initial launch of the concept in February 2017.

According to the clothing brand, the new store format has demonstrated improved customer engagement and productivity on a smaller footprint. Its design encourages product trial, and provides a series of features that make the customer experience feel more personal and relaxing.

At the new 5,554 sq ft store at Intu Trafford Centre, these will include innovative fitting rooms with thoughtful amenities designed to enhance the customer’s mood, such as separate controls for light and music, as well as a phone charging dock.

Select fitting rooms act as private suites to accommodate larger groups of friends and families, and cash wraps will be placed throughout the space, enabling a quicker and more accessible checkout experience.

"Manchester is a young, vibrant and fashion-forward city, making Intu Trafford Centre an ideal location for our second store and our first prototype in the UK," said Stacia Andersen, brand president of Abercrombie & Fitch and Abercrombie Kids.

"Our stores are an important gateway for us to engage with our customer, and their design is a key element of delivering a seamless, customer experience, across all our platforms.”

Colin Flinn, regional managing director at Intu, added: “Intu Trafford Centre will mark its 20th anniversary later this year and this is the latest in a long line of international and home-grown retailers who have come here to establish a new base outside London during that time.”

The shopping centre has embarked on a £75 million transformation of Barton Square, which will gain 110,000 sq ft of extra retail space, a new glass-domed roof and a fully redesigned interior. The new space will launch in 2019 with Primark already signed up as an anchor tenant.