French Connection plans new concept store, to open in Manchester

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 7, 2017

The news around French Connection may often be about stores closing down but the company is still opening them too. And its next one will be a UK first with new concept location at Manchester’s Royal Exchange.

The landlord is trying to reposition the Royal Exchange as a more premium destination and bagging a new concept is something of a coup.

So what can we expect? Well, it’s a 2,885 sq ft space that’s due to open this autumn. It will feature lots of "forward-thinking technology" designed to improve the customer experience and will have a completely new look. But we don’t know much more than that.

French Connection has actually had a store at the Royal Exchange before but closed it down back in January 2016, although it said that demand from local customers via its e-commerce site and its concessions has remained strong.
The company said it’s important to have a physical presence “in such an important city for retail once again.”

But it looks like we’ll have to wait until November to see just what the new concept involves.

The company certainly needs newness and innovation to help ignite sales growth with the firm turning in a succession of weak results. This has led directly to the store closure programme and it even quit its giant Regent Street, London, flagship that is now occupied by Asics.