Fashion retailer Karen Millen yesterday opened a pilot standalone accessories store that will be rolled out to airports and department store concessions if successful.
The 80 sq ft store, called Karen Millen Accessories, opened in Bath’s Southgate Centre and is targeted at the upscale accessories market rather than the mainstream field in which fascias such as Accessorize operate.
Other fashion retailers including Reiss have made a similar move to open accessories stores. Reiss operates an accessories and footwear store on London’s Market Place.
Ian Dudley, property director of Karen Millen parent Aurora, said: “It’s a trial to see if we can do standalone concessions in department stores and in airports. If it goes well we’ll roll it out, particularly in airports.”
Accessories already account for about 15% of Karen Millen’s sales. Dudley said: “Most of Karen Millen’s expansion is coming from international at the moment. This is another string to our bow.”
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