Kookaï UK managing director Guy Critchlow plays the pivotal role in a retail entente cordiale. He’s very British, but he runs a very French business.
Critchlow, who was installed in January 2006 by retail veteran Maurice Helfgott to turn around the womenswear brand that had fallen out of fashion with UK consumers, seems every inch the affable Englishman.
But beneath the well-spoken exterior lurks a passion for women’s fashion that stems from a long stint in merchandising and buying at another very British institution, Marks & Spencer. Add to that Critchlow’s skill as a linguist and Helfgott’s decision seems a well-made one.
It was at M&S that Critchlow first caught the attention of Helfgott. At the end of 2005, Helfgott and fellow retail entrepreneurs the Bennett brothers, via their Amery Capital investment vehicle, were considering their options regarding the then-ailing Kookaï in the UK.
Kookaï’s previous UK distributor, Adjustbetter – part of the Forminster Group – went into administration after its French parent Kookaï SA did not renew its licence and Amery snapped up the retailer as part of a 50:50 joint venture with Kookaï SA.
While declining to comment on the whys and wherefores of the administration, Critchlow says: “If you try to alter too many aspects of the brand, you have to ask yourself why you are going into that market, because you aren’t being pure to that brand.”
It is a return to the brand’s French heritage and repositioning towards an older mid-20s to mid-30s demographic that has enabled the retailer’s return to profit this year, says Critchlow. And, as the brand celebrates its 25th birthday, Critchlow is looking forward to expanding Kookaï in both the bricks-and-mortar and online spheres.
Kookaï operates nine standalone stores in the UK and 41 concessions in retailers including House of Fraser, Debenhams and Selfridges. It is focusing on concessions as the quickest and most economical route to market. The retailer will also open six concessions this year and has no imminent plans to open more standalones, but Critchlow says that will change in future. “Having only nine standalones gives us a lot of opportunity to grow the brand via that route,” he says.
Kookaï’s transactional web site will go live this autumn, with the aim of being its best-performing store within six months and Critchlow plans to create online partnerships with e-tailers such as Asos.
There are also opportunities to extend products further into accessories and launch footwear in 2009 with the help of its French connections, he adds. Kookaï SA operates many different licences and the Vivarte Group, which owns the Kookaï brand, has more than 2,500 doors in Europe.
But it is the happy combination of the clout of Kookaï’s French partner and the retailing nous of its British backers that has really aided the turnaround of the retailer.
Critchlow says: “What Kookaï SA wants to do is impart a greater sense of the heritage in the design of its own brand and the best way to do that was to have ownership of that Kookaï brand while recognising the UK is a market with huge potential and needs to be handled carefully. So it wanted to partner with people with experience in the UK market.” And Amery Capital had proved its credentials with the turnaround of niche womenswear retailer Long Tall Sally.
“For a small but growing brand to be able to tap into more than 100 years of retail experience [from Helfgott and the Bennett brothers] – there are many brands many times our size that would bite their hand off to be in that position,” says Critchlow.
“Compared with maybe some other venture capital vehicles – whose motivation might be to get the return by whatever means possible and maybe even an understanding in the sector isn’t necessarily there – in our case, the start point is a passion for retailing and that is so noticeable.”
And it seems that in Critchlow, Helfgott and the Bennett brothers have found an equal to match that passion. And it is a momentum that Critchlow says won’t slow in the challenging environment.
“In women’s fashion retailing, you are as good as your last week’s performance and, over the Christmas period, we did 9 per cent like-for-like growth,” he says. “We have an air of confidence built by learning a number of lessons over the past two years.”
As Critchlow dashes around a Kookaï concession, proudly showing off the product’s Parisian feminine silhouettes and improved knitwear, it is obvious that his very British drive, combined with a love for the Frenchness of the brand, is integral to his joie de vivre.
FRENCH FIELDS
Education: Modern History with Economics degree from Manchester University
Family: Married with one son
CAREER HISTORY
July 2006-present: managing director, Kookaï UK
January-July 2006: buying and merchandising director, Kookaï UK
1995-2005: various roles in senior merchandising, buying and strategic planning, Marks & Spencer. Director of Marks & Spencer Outlets
1992: Production manager in the homewares division, Courtaulds Textiles
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