Oracle Retail Week Awards: Fat Face Chichester thrives under new store concept

March 2011 was not a great month for the Fat Face store in Chichester. During the evening of March 4, a fire broke out in a flat above the shop, causing extensive damage to the building and leading to it being declared unsafe. At first, Fat Face was told that it wouldn’t be possible to access its store for 12 months as restoration work was carried out.

The disaster hit the business at a particularly challenging time. Trading conditions were tough - as they were for most of the industry - and a new leadership team was working hard on a series of initiatives to improve business performance.

But the fire proved to be a catalyst for change. Fat Face used the blank canvas it created to fast-track a series of changes it was already planning to implement in new stores, replacing design elements that it felt were blurring the brand identity and improving the quality and finish of the design.

The development of a new store concept turned out to be well timed: the retailer used the opportunity afforded by the fire to completely refit the Chichester store.

Not only that, but Fat Face decided to try out its new ideas in a nearby pop-up shop while the store was being revamped. The temporary store opened in August 2011 and traded for seven months, helping to mitigate losses and allowing the format to be piloted in a non-permanent setting. The retailer tried new fixtures, fittings, wall textures and windows at the pop-up, which helped inform decisions made for the main store’s redevelopment.

This store reopened in March 2012 with a ‘beach cottage’ theme, and has since delivered strong results: sales rose significantly compared with the pre-refitted store.

Chief executive Anthony Thompson says: “The fire at our Chichester store was desperately bad news at a difficult time for our business. However, we didn’t just refit the store - we created a model store that has surpassed expectation. Our customers and crew love our new look and the financial results have been stunning.” Staff have spoken of their pride in the shop, and its efficacy at communicating what the brand stands for.

The design principles implemented at Chichester have since been applied at other store openings at a lower cost than the previous store design concept. Fat Face says there are several elements of the new design that have worked well in other stores, and the beach hut feel has been successfully rolled out across part of the store estate.

The judges believe Fat Face’s success was down not just to the new store and effective brand communication, but the financial strength of the concept: sales rose and costs fell as a result. As one judge says: “It was impressive from a visual merchandising point of view, and it wasn’t just the store that looked good - the financials were good too.”