Q&A: Sosandar co-founder on ‘bringing what makes us successful online into our stores’

Once a pureplay retailer, Sosandar has now snapped up three stores in quick succession. Having previously landed leases in Chelmsford and Marlow, both of which are expected to open in September, the brand announced a third store will be in the Metrocentre in Gateshead earlier this week.

Sosandar, one of the UK’s fastest-growing brands, wants the third store to open in October – in time for the golden quarter and the push to Christmas. It has also gone on the record with ambitious plans to have 50 bricks-and-mortar stores across the UK.

Co-founder and co-CEO Ali Hall and chief finance officer Steve Dilks spoke to Retail Week to discuss why they’ve taken a shopping centre in the North East, the brand’s criteria for new stores, how it’s finding the retail property market and its plans to bring what it does best online into a physical shopping environment.

After signing leases in market towns, your third store is in a large shopping centre. Why did you pick the Metrocentre for your new site?

Ali Hall: “All three of them are in what we’d call our tier-one locations. And the criteria for all tier-one stores is that they are in affluent, vibrant, lively places where the footfall is high and where we over-index with our customers.

“So, those are the main reasons we’d look for any store that we’d choose now, and the Metrocentre has all of those in spades. Yes, it’s a shopping centre, rather than a market town, but we believe Sosandar can do just as well in shopping centres as it can in market towns.

“It’s all about making sure those stores meet our criteria: about getting the right door in the right area on the right bit of the street or the centre.”

Coming from a pureplay background, how have you come up with the formats and layouts for your stores?

AH: “One of the things that we really wanted to do was to look at how we can take the success that we’ve had online and bring that into a physical space. So one of the things that you’ll see in all of our stores is at the window there’ll be a large video screen and on that screen will play multiple videos that we have online.

“We aren’t having any mannequins whatsoever. We don’t use mannequins online, so why would we use them in-store? We want something that’s much more modern. Something which brings to life the clothes, rather than a static mannequin with no head on. So, it’s bringing that thing that’s worked really well for us, which is our imagery.

“Also, when customers pick up an item of clothing on a hanger, around the top of that hanger will be a ribbon with a picture of the online imagery of that top in the full outfit on a model, so you’ll be able to visualise when you pick up a top what that outfit will look like.”

You’re anticipating that your customers will use these stores not just as a direct point of sale, but will also blend that channel with how they already shop with you online?

AH: “Of course. We’re only going to get about 50% of your range into any one store. Evidence shows that when people shop in your store then your online sales in that area go up as well when you’ve got a store in that area. So one channel always complements the other, that’s for sure.”

How are you finding dealing with landlords and the retail property market?

Steve Dilks: “We’ve found it to be fair. For us, we’re fishing in a pond where high streets are thriving, where there’s not lots of availability. So, clearly, basic supply and demand come to the fore a little bit. But I think we feel like what the landlords are generally asking for is fair and representative of the type of revenue that existing retailers will be doing in those locations.

“Are we getting massive deals and massive periods of rent-free? No. Are there some rent-free periods to be had? Yes − but overall, it’s been fair. Of course, some landlords aren’t fair or are chancers but you quickly work that out.

“The one thing above all that we won’t compromise on is location. So that’s not even the town, but the spot in a town.”

There have been some high-profile retail failures recently, like Ted Baker. Has that presented an expanding retailer like Sosandar with opportunities?

SD: “There’s always opportunity. With someone like Ted Baker, it depends more on the size and the sites. Some of those stores are large and might not suit us because they’re too big or they’re spread across two floors, which adds complexity to the trading environment.

“It’s not necessarily the direct impact of Ted Baker or whoever closing. But it might mean that someone who is in a store we want may now be entertaining taking a former Ted Baker store, releasing leases in existing locations that we’d be interested in. It all creates a domino effect, doesn’t it?”