{"id":2526,"date":"2018-09-24T23:30:44","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T23:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/debenhams-attempts-to-bring-joy-back-to-high-street\/"},"modified":"2018-09-24T23:30:44","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T23:30:44","slug":"debenhams-attempts-to-bring-joy-back-to-high-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/debenhams-attempts-to-bring-joy-back-to-high-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Debenhams attempts to ‘bring joy back’ to High Street"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Debenhams\"Image copyright<\/span>
\n Debenhams<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n Debenhams’ new store includes a “minibar” with travel-sized items
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“We have to make shopping fun again,” says the boss of Debenhams, Sergio Bucher.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot riding on his vision of the future. <\/p>\n

The department store chain will open a new branch in Watford on Thursday as it tries to revive its fortunes on the High Street.<\/p>\n

Debenhams has lost more than two-thirds of its share price value since January, and has been under increased scrutiny after its rival House of Fraser collapsed in August. <\/p>\n

At its new look store, you can get a facial or a blow dry as well as try on new outfits in posh changing rooms – in which you can choose your own mood lighting – and finish off with a tipple at the Pinkster gin bar. <\/p>\n

‘Bring joy back’<\/h2>\n

“For way too long we have turned stores to be like these big warehouses full of product with a till at the door,” says Mr Bucher<\/p>\n

“We just want to bring the joy back. <\/p>\n

“We have to make sure that every shopping trip is memorable,” <\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n Sergio Bucher left Amazon to join Debenhams
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The beauty hall, with its industrial style ceiling, certainly looks different. <\/p>\n

There are several dedicated “lab spaces” to showcase new and upcoming brands, which can be rotated to maintain excitement. <\/p>\n

There is also a “minibar” where shoppers are able to experiment with different brands in travel sizes. <\/p>\n

And there is a beauty “clubhouse”, where customers can get advice from assistants who are not connected to a particular brand. <\/p>\n

The space can also be used to host events for Beauty Club members. This is a new online loyalty scheme and forum, featuring tips and advice on products from regular customers. <\/p>\n

It has generated around \u00a3150,000 in sales in just ten days. <\/p>\n

There are big changes on the fashion floors, too. <\/p>\n

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Image copyright<\/span>
\n Debenhams<\/span><\/p>\n

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Walk into many Debenhams stores and the racks are often stuffed with as much clothing as they can physically carry. <\/p>\n

Now, less is more. <\/p>\n

This new store has around 25% fewer products in women’s fashion, but they are better displayed, with a more curated look. There’s a New This Week Hub, showcasing the newest, best, products giving what the company hopes will be a reason for customers to visit. <\/p>\n

Whether it’s beauty or fashion, Debenhams is convinced newness sells. <\/p>\n

The company won’t reveal the price tag of this new store, saying only that a capital contribution from its landlord, Intu, has paid for most of the cost. Debenhams will be the anchor tenant in the shopping group’s new 400,000 sq foot development. <\/p>\n

The big challenge for Debenhams is how to roll these new ideas out to the rest of its stores, when its budget for investment has been slashed to save money.<\/p>\n

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Image copyright<\/span>
\n Debenhams<\/span><\/p>\n

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Around 40 stores will see elements of the new-look beauty hall before Christmas. <\/p>\n

But Debenhams’ boss won’t say which stores, or how many, will get a complete makeover, just yet. <\/p>\n

“We have to see the return we are able to get… that will inform us what we can afford in the future,” says Sergio Bucher. <\/p>\n

In other words, with limited funds, Debenhams needs to get the maximum bang for its buck as quickly as possible. <\/p>\n

Debenhams is in a race against time to transform its business to keep up with the huge structural changes sweeping through the industry, along with rising costs. <\/p>\n

This year’s festive trading period will be even more crucial, given the chain’s disappointing Christmas sales in 2017.<\/p>\n

But despite three profit warnings and recent questions about its financial health, Debenhams has come out fighting. <\/p>\n

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Image copyright<\/span>
\n Debenhams<\/span><\/p>\n

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“There has been a lot of rumours, a lot of talk, but sometimes not a lot of facts, says Mr Bucher. <\/p>\n

“We are a three billion pound [in sales] company, we are profitable. <\/p>\n

“We have 19 million very loyal customers and we are investing in our stores.” <\/p>\n

‘New reality’<\/h2>\n

This former Amazon executive would also like to see a more level playing field when it comes to business rates.<\/p>\n

“If Debenhams had been taxed as an ‘online pure player’ last year, we would have been three times as profitable,” he claims.<\/p>\n

“The government needs to adjust to the new reality of online.” <\/p>\n

In the meantime, Debenhams is focused on pulling more shoppers into its stores. It knows its future depends on it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Image copyright Debenhams Image caption Debenhams’ new store includes a “minibar” with travel-sized items “We have to make shopping fun again,” says the boss of Debenhams, Sergio Bucher. There’s a lot riding on his vision of the future. The department store chain will open a new branch in Watford on Thursday as it tries to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}