The combination of a powerful global brand with local creatives, craftsmen and manufacturers has to be a recipe for success in this international world with its ironically specific local tastes.
Passing through central London on an Oxford Street East to West route taking in the crisp morning air it seems that the better US brands have come to understand this assortment strategy better perhaps than many European brands.
At the top of this highly stylised tree would be Anthropology and Urban Outfitters where a strong and consistent eclectic taste allows a variety of brands and product yet still appealing to the same customer taste. Many designers often quote their fortune at having a taste that is popular. Well the likes of Anthropology certainly have that fortune but clearly also work very hard at keeping the proposition alive and kicking with a constant flow of new brands and manufacturers.
Its a sobering message on a UK high street where the attraction and reassurance of the familiar is giving way to a quest for the unusual as many multiples struggle with a static proposition in an over-represented portfolio.
Too many stores…but too much the same.
Be careful not the let familiarity lead to contempt and closure in your own retail back yard
Its time for big brands to get big in the community…