Forever Birmingham

Way back when (around 2003), Birmingham was a happening retail place. This was where Selfridges had opted to open the most futuristic store ever seen in the UK; where the groundbreaking Bullring development was opening and where urban renaissance was really seen to have taken hold. For a time, Birmingham was fashionable, and a place visited to see what could be done with a moribund city centre that, at best, was a jumping off point for other UK locations.

Things Brum went rather quiet during the latter years of the 21st century’s initial decade, however, and while everything that had been done was still in place, the world’s retail gaze moved on to other locations as Manchester opened a new phase of the Arndale and Liverpool One took flight.

But about a month ago the city came into sharp focus once again as a US retailer decided that this was the best place to make European landfall. The store in question is Forever 21 and anyone with an interest in mass-market fashion who’s been to the US will be aware of it. It’s always tempting to assign labels to unknown retailers and therefore calling Forever 21 the US answer to New Look is almost too easy.

While the pricing of the merchandise is similar, this is not New Look, however. It is different and what Birmingham has gained is a piece of retail novelty and a new UK arrival at the value-led end of the fashion market. The interesting bit is why has this retailer chosen to open in Birmingham rather than following the well-trodden path to Oxford Street or Regent Street - a route that has left many complaining that the UK is a tough market to trade in?

Senior vice-president Larry Meyer says: “We’ve actually been thinking about coming to the UK for the last five years and we’ve been looking at real estate all of that time.” On this basis, the Birmingham store looks like a piece of opportunism. Prior to the arrival of Forever 21, the top two of the store’s three floors were occupied by an ill-fated Currys format that never got beyond two branches and beneath this, there was a Borders store.

It might also be reasonable to ask why start up in the UK at all? Rents tend to be high and operating costs run ahead of some other European markets. Linda Chang, daughter of the company’s Korean founder and director of marketing, says that linguistic culture is important: “The language is the same and that does make coming to the UK first easier for us. The product is actually very similar to what we offer in the US. Trends are global and we think that whether you’re in Tokyo, LA or Birmingham you’ll be looking for similar things.”

Maybe so, but how will shoppers in the UK’s second city react to a 56,000 sq ft (gross) store that is the Bullring’s third largest retail space after Debenhams and Selfridges? It certainly dwarfs its neighbours, with River Island (next door), Topshop (next door but one), H&M (across the mall) and New Look (nearby) all appearing quite diminutive by comparison.

And it was certainly having an impact. On opening day, November 12, there was a one-day 20%-off promotion being run by New Look, while H&M was offering photoshoots and makeovers to shoppers frequenting its central Birmingham store.

Lawrence Hutchings, head of UK retail at Hammerson, the developer that owns the Bullring, cites H&M, among others, as being “not thrilled” by the arrival of Forever 21 and says the new store ratchets up the competitive environment in the centre. And if bigger really is better, then this store will have all UK fashion retailers wondering which way to jump. On opening morning, it was easy to spot senior management from Primark and New Look, eager to join the hundreds who were queuing to be the first to take a look around or at least to get their hands on a free Forever 21 goody bag.

And what they would have seen when they entered is a store that bears, in more than a few ways, a remarkable resemblance to Topshop - just bigger and with merchandise that costs less.

The top shop in town?

Standing in the queue, the view would have been of a window scheme that looked not unlike the one that Topshop deployed when it opened in Westfield a couple of years ago, with abstract Christmas baubles forming the setting for mannequins and clothing displays.

The logo was different, however, and the bold shiny silver letters above the window seemed to be a touch of razzmatazz that left other stores looking a little flat, if Vegas glitz is your thing.

Inside, the retailer had pulled off that difficult trick of having three floors of fashion and somehow making each worthy of a visit. Again, the Topshop reference was a little obvious. A display just inside the entrance, consisting of large flashing letters, spelt out the legend “Ho Ho Ho” (well, it was November), but they might as well have shouted Topshop, for it looked for all the world the same as what was done in the UK fashion retailer’s Knightsbridge and New York flagships.

The main entrance is in fact on the second of the three levels and staring through this enormous space the other point that was obvious was that Forever 21 has succeeded

in managing a very large area without making it feel like a very large area. The keywords to describe each of the floors are probably ‘glitter’ and ‘glam’. Both were evident in abundance, whether it was the fairy tale castle chandeliers, the tea party display for accessories or the first floor’s black and white chequered floor, home to more accessories and a lead-in to a very bright lingerie department.

This store is overwhelmingly about fashion merchandise for teeny girls and the pocket-conscious prices (which, curiously, end in .50 or .80 - “something we’ve always done” according to Chang) reflect this. That said, for Forever 21 males who might feel a tad left out, there was an area on the lower floor at the front of the shop for them as well.

A lot of attention to detail therefore and for Birmingham’s fashion shoppers a real event and a sense that for once, the second city had been put first. The day after this store opened, Forever 21 opened an 80,000 sq ft giant in Dublin and Meyer says plans are in place for more branches, ahead of a move into continental Europe but that the retailer would only open when the “right” locations are found. “As a private company we can do no stores or we can do 100 stores, it’s up to us,” as he puts it.

London will receive its first Forever 21 in autumn 2011 in the site vacated by HMV on Oxford Street, but you have to applaud this retailer for not doing the obvious by making Birmingham the first port of call. Whether that applause will be echoed by others in the young fashion arena is rather more questionable.