NEWS
DRAPERS ETAIL AWARDS To book a ticket for our celebration of the best in fashion etailing on January 27 in London, go to www.drapersetail
awards.co.uk
In brief
FASHIONBLOGS Read what your industry colleagues are saying at
www.drapersonline.com/ blogs
INDEPENDENTS
Restructuring firms circle Cruise chain
Approaches come 18 months after mini-chain’s pre-pack administration First look: Lauren Hutton in Tom Ford
Tom Ford, the designer, has unveiled his debut womenswear range to consumers in an exclusive interview with magazine Harper’s Bazaar UK, which goes on sale on Monday. The interview features photos of celebrities and models including Beyoncé and Lauren Hutton modelling in Ford’s behind-closed-doors spring 11 catwalk show. For more pictures see
www.drapersonline.com.
Browns buying director Erin Mullaney has left the London designer indie. It is unclear whether she has a job to go to.
Sainsbury’s clothing boss Sara Bradley and Adrian Mountford, director of general merchandise, have made shock exits from the grocer. Bradley has been poached by George at Asda to become its head of buying for kidswear and menswear, while Mountford will become commercial director at Matalan. Both will start their new jobs in the new year.
Prêt à Porter, the womenswear show in Paris, has introduced a men’s and women’s ready-to-wear showroom. Paris Fashion Showroom will run from January 22-23 at Hotel Salomon de Rothschild.
Victoria’s Secret, the US lingerie chain, is in talks to open a store at Westfield Stratford in east London, which opens in autumn 2011. Sources said the Stratford store was unlikely to open before the retailer’s London New Bond Street debut slated for 2012.
2 Drapers December 3 2010
BY JESSICA BROWN Restructuring specialists Hilco and GA Associates are understood to be ready to swoop on designer mini- chain Cruise amid rumours that trading has nosedived. Cruise, which has 12 stores, and
emerged from a pre-pack adminis- tration just 18 months ago, is under- stood to have suffered a sharp decline in sales after its customer base stopped splashing out on designer goods in the wake of the austerity Budget. The recent snow is believed to have accelerated its diffi- culties. A source close to the busi- ness told Drapers that trading at Cruise was down by double digits on a like-for-like basis. A second source
TRADING Footfall plummets as snow blankets UK
Bricks-and-mortar indies and multiple retailers have borne the brunt of the wintry weather this week, with many customers choosing to shop online rather than brave the freeze. Snow blizzards across the country
led to a drop in footfall in what was billed as week one of the peak festive trading period. Peter McConway, manager of
Newcastle premium indie Jules B, said: “No one wants to come in and try clothes on if it’s cold. Footfall has been right down this week and sales have been down on last year. But where we are losing sales in-store they have picked up on the internet.” Mark Bage, owner of York-based
premium indie Sarah Coggles, said: “Footfall is down, but turnover
seems to be the same because higher-priced items seem to be selling – boots and coats and that type of thing.” Despite Ugg boots, hoodies
and coats selling well, Nicola Scott, owner of contemporary womenswear indie Bunty & Co in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, said she was concerned the snow would continue to affect sales. Scott said: “The four weeks in the
run-up to Christmas is usually the busiest time of the year, so it’s a bit worrying that we might not be able to hit targets.” Martin Schneider, owner of Leeds
young fashion indie Accent Clothing, said: “The snow has killed us. The buses and trains are stop- ping at 2pm today [Wednesday] and
we are sending some staff home early. I’m hoping it’s just the one day that it’s going to be this bad. It’ll cost us a few thousand pounds.” Gary Lever, co-owner of young
fashion indie Duo Menswear in Gourock, near Glasgow, said he was not panicking about festive turn- over. He added: “There is time to make up the sales and footfall, but we’ll be suffering a bit until it clears up. It’s treacherous out there. I don’t think shopping will be at the fore- front of people’s minds.” Ken Bartle, chief executive of
footwear chain Jones Bootmaker, said Tuesday – when the snowfall hit the whole country – had been “disastrous”. He added: “Due to the snow people couldn’t get into our stores in Bluewater and Bromley.”
said: “I would defy anyone else in the independent sector to say anything much different to trade being really tough. But the plan is for Cruise to be profitable by this year end [January 2011].” Hilco, GA Associates and other
unnamed restructuring specialists are thought to have made approaches direct to the Cruise management team and to its bank HBOS. It was not known whether discussions had actually begun as Drapers went to press. The second source added: “Cruise
has had approaches from venture capitalists as well. There could be an opportunity to merge with other indies or buy other indies to get
scale. There have been talks with investors...” It is unclear what the future of
the business would be if a restruc- turing specialist took control. Restructuring specialists tend to sell businesses on to a third party, break them up or wind them down. Cruise emerged from a pre-pack
administration in May 2009 after shedding about six of its shops. The administration was blamed on the fact the business was owned by an Icelandic fund – Kcaj – which strug- gled to survive in the wake of the global banking meltdown and which could not deliver on its promises to support Cruise’s expansion plans. James Pow, a non-executive
TERRY RICHARDSON
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