Free People - UK Store Concept

UK STORE CONCEPT PROPOSAL

Contents Page 01-02 Introduction Page 03-04 Key Trends Page 05-06 The Big Picture Page 07-10 In-Store Activity Page 11-12 Staff Page 13-16 Location & Positioning Page 17-18 Inspiration Wall Page 19-30 Store Design Page 31-32 Timeline Page 33-34 Measuring Success Page 35-36 Budget Page 37-38 Conclusion Page 39-40 Youth Media

INTRODUCTION Free People is an American fashion and lifestyle brand crafted around the notion of creativity, individuality and adventure for empowered young women. Offering fashion and homeware products that epitomise a bohemian way of life, Free People is a staple brand in the US and Canada.

Today, Free People is carefully increasing its presence in the UK with a successful e-commerce website, a strong digital presence, multiple concessions and a thriving London pop-up store. The next obvious step for the brand is therefore a standalone store, demonstrating a commitment to British customers by providing full access to the Free People way of life in a physical setting.

Research suggests that over 25% of female millenials would welcome a Free People store in the UK, with current trends indicating that the key to engagement is by creating a store centred around the Free People lifestyle, where customers can shop but also hang out, meet new people and even learn something.

As a response to this insight, Youth Media presents the ‘Free People - UK Store Proposal’, using research and commercial know-how to offer recommendations on location, design and in-store activities that pack a punch with free-spirited young women and ensure a triumphant expansion onto British soil.

2

KEY TRENDS In order to position Free People amongst key customers, a number of emerging trends have been identified and integrated into this concept. These trends are changing the way young women live their lives, see themselves and shop and the adoption of these trends into the store concept marks Free People out as a forward-thinking retailer that truly understands its customer.

EXPLORIUM RETAIL & THE CONVERGENCE ECONOMY A fashion store should be about more than just shopping, blurring the boundaries between retail, entertainment and education to facilitate personal growth. Free People can truly stand out by creating a dynamic store where customers learn new skills, embrace their hobbies, join communities and be inspired, all before leaving with the dress of their dreams.

THE WELLNESS REVOLUTION With the UK health market booming, wellness is the word on everybody’s lips. In recent years, the UK has seen a sharp increase in speciality diets like veganism and clean eating along with a sharp uptake in exercise. Boasting a strong connection to the wellness community, Free People can make healthy lifestyles a key focus of its UK store, with in-store events that bring new and existing members of the community together, binding them to the brand.

THROWBACK Today’s fast-paced technological world leaves millenials looking to the past for comfort – cue the resurgence of film photography, vinyl records, vintage clothing and repurposed antique furniture. Taking inspiration from 1960s and 1970s bohemia, the Free People store will teleport customers to a time when peace and love made the world go round, allowing customers to experience ‘the good old days’ for themselves.

4

THE BIG PICTURE What is essentially being detailed in this document is a unique, experiential store, housed in the heart of London’s retail district and comprising of beautifully curated shopping and multi-purpose events spaces. Setting Free People apart from its competition is a long-term strategy of weekly craft, culture and wellness events, held in-store with the help of local businesses and brand ambassadors.

The proposal aims to: •Establish the Free People store as a hive of inspiration, exploration and community •Build and nurture a UK community of Free People customers •Promote the Free People lifestyle centred around craft, culture and wellness •Benefit from B2B advocacy by working with local businesses

5

IN-STORE ACTIVITIES With young women now expecting much more from fashion retailers, in-store activities are what will entice them into the Free People store and keep them returning again and again. The Free People lifestyle is all about craft, culture and wellness, and should be engrained in every activity to maximise brand awareness.

Inspired by sister brand Urban Outfitters and record store Rough Trade East, the Free People store will be split over two floors, combining a dedicated shopping space on the ground floor with a multi-purpose events space in the basement, where weekly events will be held. Featuring a stage, bar, toilets, kitchen, green room and storage, the area will be fully-functional, making the Free People store a destination for creative young women to make memories and meet likeminded people.

At the store’s core is a series of collaborations with local businesses and brand ambassadors, allowing Free People to host a wider range of events. For the store launch, collaborations will be carried out with the likes of: •Mr Prempy’s Raw Vegan Cakes •Book & Kitchen Vegetarian Restaurant •Sarah Horne Creative Floristry •InnerSpace Meditation Centre •Triyoga Yoga Instructors •Free People ambassadors Francesca Stone, Leigh Travers and Abbie Mellissa

7

In the long-term, Youth Media will continue its work building strong relationships with businesses in the area who share similar values with Free People in order to create eclectic events schedules and benefit from constant B2B advocacy. Free People ambassadors will be responsible for hosting these events and creating inspirational content to go alongside them, allowing Free People access to thousands of their followers.

These events could take the form of: •Yoga, Pilates and meditation classes •Cooking, baking, cocktail-making and preserving classes •Beauty, hair and make-up classes •DIY interiors and craft classes •Dressmaking and upcycling demonstrations •Concerts, cinema screenings and motivational speaking •Fashion and trend shows •Charity events Customers will first be introduced to the events calendar during ‘We The Free’, a four-day craft, culture and wellness festival held in-store to celebrate its launch. Tickets for the festival will be purchased online, and the email addresses supplied during the booking process will be used for marketing future events along with social media, in-store listings boards, brand ambassadors and local businesses.

10

STAFF Since building a community of loyal UK customers is so important to Free People, it is vital that all staff members offer unrivalled customer service. The proposed store aims to embody a boutique vibe on a larger scale, therefore customers should receive a highly personalised service at all times and Free People staff should strive to treat the brand’s regular shoppers as friends.

Two of Free People’s biggest competitors, Topshop and Miss Selfridge, currently offer free personal shopping services, and Free People will follow suit with an in-house team of professionally-trained stylists with expert knowledge on the key looks that the brand is pushing.

Stylists will be encouraged to inject plenty of their own personality into their work and will be promoted through #OOTD posts on the UK Instagram account. Customers can then get to know each stylist and book appointments with their favourite.

12

LOCATION & POSITIONING Free People is currently operating a pop-up store from King’s Road, Chelsea, effectively positioning itself as a quality high street fashion retailer. Whilst this is an excellent location in theory, it places Free People far away from its four main competitors – Topshop, Urban Outfitters, Miss Selfridge and Pull&Bear – limiting the possibility of gaining new customers through passing trade.

To diversify its customer base, Free People would benefit from a more central location containing a mixture of cheaper competitor stores and luxury boutiques. This would better establish Free People as a high street brand that boasts superior quality and craftsmanship and would connect the brand to its core customer whilst providing exposure.

With this in mind, the proposed store location is 6-8 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 1QT which offers 3,300 square feet of retail space.

14

Situated in a highly visible location on the corner of Regent Street, which benefits from a footfall of over 400,000 per week, the store takes pride of place in the centre of London’s retail district.

The brand’s four main competitors are located five minutes away on Oxford Street, whilst Free People sits closer to the likes of COS, Jaeger, All Saints and Monsoon. Renowned department store Liberty is across the street and New Bond Street, laden with designer boutiques, is just a minute’s walk away.

With such a prominent location, Free People can guarantee a staggering amount of passing trade with a potential to convert browsers into long-term customers. The brand also benefits from retaining its status as a quality fashion retailer whilst being much more accessible to high street shoppers.

15

INSPIRATION WALL

18

STORE DESIGN STORE EXTERIOR Jostling for space amongst the world’s most renowned high street stores and designer boutiques, it is vital that Free People has a striking exterior to grab the attention of potential customers. Youth Media proposes a luxury aesthetic with retro influences, making Free People stand out as a quality retailer catering to cool, young women.

The store that has been selected, situated at 6-8 Maddox Street in Mayfair, boasts a stunning wooden period frontage with dark marble pillars topped by white, engraved woodwork. Four large windows take centre stage of the property, completed by a series of smaller windows lining the top of the building and a large double door with original gold handles. Attractive, red brick office spaces with period windows and wrought iron trellis make up the top floors of the property, providing staggering kerbside appeal.

Taking inspiration from classic boutiques in covetable locations such as King’s Road and Mount Street, the proposed renovation aims to refresh the store’s exterior with an entire repaint in black gloss, removing all window coverings to allow plenty of natural light into the store. Stylish, monochrome tiling will be laid on the shop’s porch to give a traditional look, which will be reinforced with gold lettering on the store’s windows and door.

As a contrast to this classic look, elements of Free People’s vintage, bohemian vibe will be incorporated into the store frontage with a retro, backlit listings board hanging above the door.

Inspired by Rough Trade East, this quirky addition to the store front is bound to get heads turning and bloggers lining up for photographs whilst also being functional in advertising the month’s events listings. Taking pride of place above this feature will be Free People’s handwritten logo.

19

STORE INTERIOR - GROUND FLOOR Upon entering the store, customers will be welcomed into the brand’s carefully curated shopping space, designed to offer customers a cosy and inspirational shopping destination.

Creative, young women crave a social-media-worthy experience when they shop, and this store provides exactly that, boasting rails of beautiful clothing, spaces for hanging out and playing records and even a personal stylist.

Free People reworks every building they inhabit to make it their own, and the UK store will be no different. The original property will be stripped down of all fixtures, fittings and partitioning walls to form an open space. Wooden floorboards will be returned to their former glory and walls will be whitewashed to lighten the space. Contractors will erect a statement feature wall in the centre of the store, made up of repurposed windows, which will be used for highly original visual merchandising displays.

Inspired by the homes of the coolest girls on social media, the store’s fixtures and fittings are made up of upcycled antique furniture and hand-crafted accessories to generate a welcoming, lived-in atmosphere that is unlike any other Free People store.

Vintage rugs sit alongside Chesterfield armchairs, golden gilt mirrors and Victorian chests to provide a classic English look, whilst minimalist gold railing and wooden floating shelves bring the store into the present. Adding a personalised, British touch are hand-painted wall murals by London-based artist Lucille Clerc, along with specially commissioned macramĂŠ wall-hangings courtesy of local artisan Hannah Reed. British wartime flags are also redesigned into fitting room curtains.

23

STORE INTERIOR - BASEMENT In the basement of the store will be Free People’s very own multi-purpose events space – the home of the brand’s jam-packed events schedule and a hub for fans of craft, culture and wellness. Designed for multiple uses, the space must be open with minimal furniture but still retain the Free People, bohemian aesthetic to remain authentic to the brand.

Since there is no natural light available, the theme of whitewashed walls and varnished floorboards will be continued downstairs to make the basement as light as possible, with mood lighting coming from strings of fairy lights covering the ceiling to create a peaceful ambience.

The room’s focal point will be a small stage built from varnished wooden pallets, with a backdrop of light-reflecting sequins and a Union Jack. On a normal day, the stage will be bare to make way for yoga classes, craft demonstrations and more, with lighting and sound equipment being hired from a local supplier should a larger performance be held. Beside the stage will be a door to the stock room and green room, complete with a kitchenette for staff members and performers to take breaks and store their belongings.

A large-scale listings board housed next to the stage will mirror the retro aesthetic of the store’s exterior, ensuring all visitors to the basement are clued-up on the exciting events schedule for the upcoming month.

Nestled in the corner of the room will be Free People’s very own bar, crafted from recycled wood and modern, white tiles and offset with an intricately-woven wall-hanging. Here, customers can enjoy drinks and healthy snacks provided by local businesses. Toilets are also available.

27

TIMELINE The development and launch of the UK store takes place over five months from April until late August 2016. A series of events then kick off from September to December 2016 with the intention for this to be continued and formed into a long-term strategy.

32

MEASURING SUCCESS The success of the store can be measured in a number of ways, including: •Overall sales figures •Event ticket sales •Stylist bookings and sales •Number of visitors •Number of conversions •Customer satisfaction Youth Media is committed to monitoring these factors throughout the process, assisting Free People with changes in strategy if required to maximise UK sales and brand awareness.

34

BUDGET Free People can expect to pay around ÂŁ17,400 for fitting and furnishing the store and hosting a weekly event from September-December 2016. This excludes yearly rent, rates and utilities and does not include agency fees of ÂŁ4,000.

35

CONCLUSION Free People has worked hard in recent years on a strategic UK expansion, leading up to an all-important physical store which cements the brand as one that is committed to its British customers.

Boasting an affordable budget and an excellent lead-time, Youth Media’s proposal is completely focused on making Free People’s expansion into the UK as economical and effortless as possible without compromising on outstanding results.

With an immersive store, bespoke customer service and a diverse schedule of craft, culture and wellness events, Free People is responding directly to its customers’ interests and values, providing them an experience that cannot be found digitally or at competitor stores.

38

Youth Media is a full-service creative agency based in Shoreditch, East London. With a team of over thirty talented designers, publishers and marketing experts, we offer bespoke communications packages to renowned fashion and lifestyle brands.

At Youth Media, we work collaboratively with our clients to create culturally-relevant, socially contagious campaigns that make an impact and get people talking. We believe that the best ideas come from genuine insight - that’s why we pride ourselves on our in-house trend forecasters, endlessly locating the next big thing for our brands to embrace.

From multi-channel campaigns to store concepts and content creation, we’ve got it covered. But don’t just take our word for it – we’ve scooped over ten national awards in our six short years, so the proof is in the pudding!

38 Scrutton Street, London, EC2A 4RQ www.youth-media.co.uk hello@youth-media.co.uk +44 (0) 2037 443 635

39

BA (HONS) FASHION COMMUNICATION DE0931 CONCEPT REALISATION AND PROMOTION W13004841 BETHANY MEGAN WATSON