LONDON – Smythson, the luxury British stationer and leather accessories house, plans to boost its retail presence internationally — with a focus on the U.S.
The company will today reveal plans to open a total of eight units over the next 18 months in “key” U.K. and international locations.
Those units will be a mix of stand-alone stores, in-store concessions and airport stores.
“We have a great opportunity to expand, and we’re going to build in the markets where we have a strong client base,” Paddy Byng, Smythson’s chief executive, told WWD.
“We are looking earnestly in America because our New York business is so great, but we’re not going to blitz the market. We also still have a lot of opportunity in the U.K.,” he added.
Byng said he was planning to open a store in Los Angeles soon and a second unit in New York and is scouting for space in Chicago; Bal Harbour, Fla.; San Francisco; Dallas, and Boston.
Over the next four years, Smythson plans to have a total of 30 boutiques worldwide, and Byng said 40 percent of them will be in the U.S., 40 percent in the U.K. and 20 percent in the rest of Europe and Asia.
The brand, which was founded in 1887 and is most famous for its quirky motifs and expensive inks and paper stock, has a total of nine stores in the U.K., New York and Hong Kong.
Three of the planned openings will take place in the U.K. over the next six months. In-store units will launch at Harrods in London and at Harvey Nichols in Manchester; a stand-alone store will open in Notting Hill.
The firm said leather goods, a relatively new category, would continue to be the driver behind sales growth going forward.
Sales of leather goods rose by 26 percent in fiscal 2006, with bestsellers including passport covers and travel accessories, makeup rolls and leather-covered writing and jewelry boxes.
For the 2006 fiscal year, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 40 percent. Sales in the five months to Aug. 31 rose 16 percent.
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Smythson is owned privately by Kelso Place Asset Management and Venrex Investment Management and does not release full financial figures.