Club Monaco sets up first stores in Europe

By

Florent Gilles

Published
Aug 30, 2012

After its arrival in Europe in autumn 2011, exclusively at Galeries Lafayette in Paris and in department stores in six other countries, Club Monaco is now ready to move on to the second phase of its expansion in Europe. In France, its womenswear collections have been available since this summer in the Printemps department stores on boulevard Haussmann and in the Parly 2 shopping centre in Paris, with stands covering 614 and 300 square feet respectively. The exclusivity deal with Galeries Lafayette has also been lifted in Germany, and as of September Club Monaco will be setting up shop in the West with a 485 square foot concession at KaDeWe, whose new womenswear department will also be opened at the same time.

But it's the retailer's move to open four own-brand stores which is key. Whilst its flagship stores in the US and Canada, its home market, are generally home to all of the brand's collections, in Europe it seems that the brand is putting its womenswear collections - which, after all, make up 65% of its turnover - first.

It's certainly the case for its very first European own-brand store, a 1350 square foot retail unit which is due to open in the new Mood Stockholm shopping centre any day now. Its next store, another womenswear boutique in Sweden, will take up residency in a large mall in Malmo in October. Club Monaco's ethereal yet trendy womenswear is at the same time heading to the seaside: a 1440 square foot store is opening at Knokke in Belgium, whilst a smaller boutique (540 square feet) is scheduled for the very chic Sylt peninsula in Germany. The final store to be announced will open in Belgium's fashion capital, Antwerp, and is expected for November 2012.

As it stands, Great Britain, France and Germany will have to wait for their Club Monaco boutiques. But the brand, whose European subsidiary is based in London, has ambitious plans for Europe: it is planning to open around 100 stores (as partnerships) and 300 concessions by 2015.