Debenhams is to broaden its food and clothing brand offering with a range of new partnerships to be introduced during the second half of 2015. Food brands will include Insomnia Coffee, Chi Kitchen, Patisserie Valerie and Joe & the Juice.
The activity comes in addition to the opening of five new stores this autumn – in Rugby, Wandsworth, Beverley, Bradford and Newport – and extensive refurbishment work in two current stores, Debenhams Birmingham and Westfield London. These new and refitted stores will contain a number of brands new to Debenhams, some of which are also new to the UK department store market.
Chi Kitchen
Exclusive Pan-Asian dining experience Chi Kitchen will partner with a high street department store for the first time when introduced to two Debenhams stores this year, Oxford St and the newly refurbished Birmingham Bull Ring store.
Patisserie Valerie
Luxury patisserie and continental café Patisserie Valerie will also be introduced to the Debenhams portfolio, opening in six stores, including the brand new Debenhams in Beverley, Wandsworth and Newport.
UK-favourite Costa will open in an additional ten stores by the end of the year.
Joe & the Juice
Following a successful partnership with the Debenhams-owned Magasin department store chain in Denmark; healthy lifestyle café Joe & the Juice will be rolled out to three UK stores this year: Clapham Junction, the Trafford Centre and Manchester City Centre.
Insomnia Coffee
Irish coffee connoisseurs, Insomnia Coffee, will make their English debut, opening two additional concessions in the UK in AW15, following an initial launch in the Cork store earlier this year.
Enhancing the experience for customers
Enhancing Debenhams’ food offer is an important part of the brand’s successful space optimisation activity alongside new concessions from high street brands Sports Direct, Monsoon and BHS Lighting, to name a few.
Debenhams UK Director of Space Planning Mark Jordan says: “The addition of new concessions comes as we extend our successful space optimisation trials and continue to look at new and exciting ways of enhancing the experience for our customers. Broadening our food offer will see a number of fantastic new brands join our portfolio and offer our customers a variety of options for casual dining. For some food brands it will be their first outlet in a town where they do not already have a presence and we are confident that this will be a key footfall driver.”
The new concessions and stores will all be open by Christmas 2015.