By David Pinto
A short time ago, a small group of industry people (some 25 in all) traveled to London to study U.K. retailing, absorb some lessons on how the retail art is practiced outside the United States, and perhaps gain some insight into how U.S. retailers and suppliers can hone their performance.
The group, led by Scott Emerson of the Emerson Group and Wendy Liebmann, chief shopper of WSL Strategic Retail, spent several rewarding days as guests of a diverse assortment of London retail giants. During that time, the U.S. visitors were treated as welcome guests and allowed, even encouraged, to examine and explore the newest and brightest concepts and ideas that had these retailers ahead — sometimes far ahead — of their competition.
As background, here is a list of U.K. retailers who welcomed, embraced and partnered with the U.S. visitors:
• Selfridges — sometimes referred to as the world’s “best department store” — with good reason. To support that assessment, the U.S. visitors were told that the store’s Oxford Street flagship hosted some 300,000 customers — a week. Once inside the four-story location — a visit hosted by several senior Selfridges executives — the U.S. visitors had no difficulty understanding why.
• Boots — the U.K.’s leading drug store retailer with some 1,800 stores throughout the country. At the retailer’s Oxford Street headquarters, the American visitors were treated to an impressive presentation on Boots’ Women’s Wellness program, a theme which was heavily emphasized by all the English retailers. The hour-long presentation amply documented Boots’ reputation as one of the U.K.’s largest and most effective providers of community health care services.
• Holland & Barrett — Europe’s largest (and most impressive) dedicated health and wellness retailer, with some 1,600 stores. In keeping with the Women’s Wellness theme that surrounded this event, the H&B executives emphasized their efforts to train store associates in women’s health and wellness.
• Harvey Nichols — the U.K.’s finest “luxury” retailer with seven stores, including it’s flagship in Knightsbridge, London. Harvey Nichols’ president explained how the department stores integrate retail and hospitality through restaurants, champagne bars, cafes and food markets effectively promoted as premium food and drink locations.
• Superdrug — among the U.K.’s largest health and beauty retailers with more than 800 stores across England and Ireland. A drug retailer without equal in its ability to integrate health care services through in-store pharmacies, nurse-led health clinics, vaccination services and online physician consultations.
• John Bell & Croyden — Among the U.K.’s oldest wellness and pharmacy retailers (founded in 1798). Alone among retailers in its ability to combine retailing with a broad range of health care services including private pharmacy services, vaccinations, health screenings, personalized wellness solutions and one-to-one consultations.
Impressive as this retailing lineup proved to be, it paled alongside the host retailers’ willingness to share their learnings with their U.S. guests. And, in the end, that willingness to impart their knowledge is what made this London expedition so rewarding for the retailers and suppliers who journeyed across the pond to learn more about the profession they held in common.
In the end, the excursion proved anew that old saying: There will indeed always be an England.
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