Sainsbury’s is to launch branded third-party fashion hubs in stores, as part of a drive to increase its fashion and clothing offering.
The proposition will initially launch in nine of Sainsbury’s larger format stores in September, with plans to reach at least 50 over the next five years.
It will see Sainsbury’s offer a curated lineup from seven of its third-party clothing brands including Sosandar, Simply Be and Finery alongside its own Tu clothing brand in stores. Previously the retailer had only sold these online, through the Tu website.
Little Mistress by Vogue Williams, Thought, Burgs and Brakeburn are the other brands that will be included in the hubs. Each store will range between four and seven brands each.
“We’ve been harnessing the strength of our much-loved own brand range, Tu clothing, to successfully introduce fashion brands online over the last year,” said Sainsbury’s clothing director Christine Kasoulis.
“Building on the success we’ve seen at tu.co.uk, we’re delighted to launch our new fashion destination hubs to offer customers a curation of exciting brands when they shop with us in store.
“We’re proud to be collaborating with so many brilliant partners that align to our values and who we hope will introduce new customers to our stylish Tu clothing range while giving our existing customers even more variety, whenever and however they choose to shop with us.”
The nine stores are in Colchester, Dartford, Ashford, Norwich, Reading, Derby, Sydenham, Birmingham and St Albans. All are considered “high footfall” by Sainsbury’s.
Working more closely with the brands would support the expansion of Sainsbury’s wider clothing offering, particularly into specialist areas like curve, maternity and lingerie, Sainsbury’s said.
The move into fashion comes as part of a wider move by Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts to boost its non-grocery offering – which also includes Argos, homeware brand habitat and Sainsbury’s Bank – as a way of delivering growth for its food business, a strategy dubbed ‘Food First’. It involves a £220m shake-up of Sainsbury’s general merchandise network over the next three years, announced in April.
When Sainsbury’s acquired the online only Sosandar brand in January it hinted it would launch some ranges into stores. The retailer is also believed to be considering the launch of an online fashion marketplace, following a report by The Times in May.
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