The British clothing retailer Sosandar Plc wants to expand its business model. The company, which has so far sold its products online and through retail partners, announced in an interim statement published on Wednesday that it would also operate its own stores in the future.
The first stores in Great Britain are scheduled to open next spring. With this move, the company will become a “true omnichannel retailer,” explained Sosandar. The women’s fashion retailer is thus creating a high-margin alternative sales channel to the online business, which is currently characterized by high discounts and returns. In addition, own stores would address additional target groups, increase brand awareness and enable more efficient marketing campaigns.
The company explained that the locations for the planned stores would be “affluent places with lively shopping streets” where an above-average number of Sosandar customers are already represented.
In the first half of the year, sales grew by six percent
Meanwhile, the clothing retailer is pushing forward its international expansion with new online trading partners. Sosandar announced that the first corresponding partnerships outside Great Britain have now been agreed with The Iconic in Australia and The Bay in Canada. The brand’s collections will be available on both platforms from the second half of next year.
At the same time, the company presented selected key figures for the first half of the current 2023/24 financial year. Accordingly, sales in the six months to September 30th amounted to 22.3 million British pounds (25.7 million euros), which represented an increase of 6.0 percent compared to the same period last year. The loss before taxes was 1.3 million British pounds (1.5 million euros), after a pre-tax profit of 0.1 million British pounds was achieved in the first half of the previous year.