Italian menswear retailer Boggi has entered the UK market with a store in the West End of London and plans to open at least four more in the Southeast.
It has opened on Jermyn Street – famed for its upmarket tailored menswear stores – and has signed for a second unit on Sloane Square in Chelsea. Boggi began fitting out the 4,500 sq ft store this week with a view to opening in July.
Boggi also has plans to roll out at least another three stores in and around the capital, and is looking at sites in the City.
The retailer is aiming to position itself in the UK menswear market alongside Hackett, which has nine stores in London, including a shop on Jermyn Street where it sells formalwear alongside its well known casualwear range.
The retailer will also be competing directly with Hackett in Chelsea, where Hackett has its flagship store close to where Boggi is presently fitting out.
“We’ll be in a really great position near their store,” said Boggi brand development manager Paolo Selva. “The main advantage we have over Hackett is price. We’re about 40 per cent cheaper.”
The retailer has appointed London-based agency Kitchen La Frenais Morgan to find more sites. These include airport retail locations, which Boggi already trades in successfully elsewhere in Europe, including six airport stores in Italy.
It is in negotiations with airport retail operator World Duty Free over possible new stores and is targeting Heathrow’s Terminal 5 as one of its preferred locations.
Boggi is also planning a fifth store opening as part of its initial roll-out, in a designer outlet centre. Selva confirmed that it is in talks with McArthurGlen, which it already trades with in Athens, and Bicester Village operator Value Retail.
Selva added that while the initial five stores it is planning will mean that it is “pretty well covered” for its first phase in the UK, it might also consider opening in Manchester.
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