Scotch & Soda is opening stores in Germany again. A Cologne store has been open again for three weeks. Franchisee Öznur Vasilev reveals in an interview which stores are still planned and what strategy she is pursuing.
As managing director of New Black Fashion GmbH, founded in 2016, Vasilev holds the master franchise license for Germany. To date, New Black Fashion has served fashion brands by helping them with sales, purchasing and production. Vasilev himself looks back on a 25-year career in the fashion industry, working as a branch manager and in wholesale sales for several fashion brands. But she prefers to stay in the background.
“I don’t like to talk about myself, I just like doing my job,” Vasilev said on Friday. When talking to her, it becomes clear little by little that she is passionate about the fashion trade and is a fan of Scotch & Soda. “I love connecting with people,” she said, adding: “I was very sad to see the shops close. Scotch & Soda is a unique brand.”
“Don’t rush into anything”
She took over a former Scotch & Soda store in Cologne out of bankruptcy, as well as some former employees. The first three weeks are said to have been positive: “The shop on Ehrenstrasse near the Belgian Quarter got off to a good start after opening. The large number of regular customers are happy, the brand has an incredible community.”
Vasilev also has his sights set on further openings. The store in Zweibrücken is scheduled to open at the beginning of February, followed by stores in Hamburg and Berlin. She would also potentially be interested in locations in Düsseldorf, Munich, Freiburg, Heidelberg and various outlet locations.
“In the beginning we – my team and I – would like to have a handful of stores and then continue to grow healthily. “Definitely don’t rush anything,” she says.
“We had a very good feeling”
Given the turbulent past few months at Scotch & Soda, it is important to her to emphasize that she continues to see a lot of potential in the brand.
“The problems in the past were not due to the brand itself. We had a very good feeling when we spoke to the sales team and the many international partners,” she said in an interview.
The sales development of the reopened stores worldwide is also extremely positive, says Vasilev. “That’s one of the reasons I took over the stores. I believe in Bluestar and the team at Scotch & Soda. I already knew the sales team from the past, and I have now gotten to know the design team. These are people who understand and love what they do.” The Scotch & Soda wholesale design team and sales team are now based at United Legwear & Apparel in Amsterdam.
Last Tuesday she and her team were in the Dutch capital to hand over the new autumn/winter 2025 collection in Amsterdam. “We are very excited about what we saw.”
background
After years of expansion, the Amsterdam fashion brand Scotch & Soda had to file for bankruptcy in March last year and was then bought by the US investor Bluestar Alliance.
Things then remained quiet for a year until it was announced in June that Scotch & Soda’s European retail subsidiary had filed for bankruptcy. The almost 40 German branches are also affected by this. Shortly after the bankruptcy, the owner Bluestar Alliance announced the opening of stores again, including five in Germany.