QS to launch second phase of Store 21 roll-out

The value fashion retailer has retained the services of design consultant Dalziel + Pow, which also works with rival Primark, to push the button on the rebrand of the 205-store chain.

QS chief executive David Pidgeon said that the trial, which consisted of 24 Store 21 shops and started last September, had been redefined to encompass the development of sub-brands.

He said: “As a consequence of the research and development from the first phase stores, which were primarily a rebadging above all else, we will redefine it and have looked at the sub-brand profile.”

The retailer will unveil the first batch of its second-generation stores in May, with the refit of its shop at Pitsea in Essex, the opening of a 4,000 sq ft store in Great Yarmouth and the conversion of its QS-branded store at Solihull near Birmingham.

The retailer is also poised to kick-start ambitious overseas expansion, beginning with five undisclosed sites in Eastern Europe.

QS is also working with its controlling shareholder, Indian textiles company Alok – which acquired more than a 50 per cent stake in the company in January 2007 – to roll out an unnamed retail chain in the country. It sells some product through Alok’s Homes and Apparels retail chain already.

“Our owners manufacture some of our lines and, if they deem that it will work well in their stores, then it will go in,” said Pidgeon.