Rigby & Peller featured in the" Lingerie Buyer"
Fitting specialist Rigby & Peller is set to open two new stores over the next few months as part of a major expansion plan. ZABIAN SOUTHWOOD caught up with the family-run business’s MD David Kenton to discuss the retailer’s evolution into a major high-street name.
Finding the perfect fit
Long before the likes of Gok Wan and Trinny & Susannah came onto the scene, June Kenton made it her mission to educate women on the benefits of correctly fitting lingerie.
In 1982, June and her husband Harold Kenton, owners of independent lingerie stores Contour, bought Rigby & Peller, an established business that still counts the Queen among its customers. Now in the hands of son David Kenton, Rigby & Peller is embarking on a new chapter that will see its reputation extend outside London and beyond. For almost 70 years, Rigby & Peller has been the automatic lingerie boutique of choice for those in the know. With branches in the smart London areas of Mayfair and Knightsbridge, the retailer has engendered a loyal clientele for its renowned fitting service and broad selection of good quality brands. And, thanks to TV programmes such as How to Look Good Naked, that customer base is growing all the time – and with it the need to extend the business. A third Rigby & Peller store opened in Brent Cross Shopping Centre in April last year, the design of which is forming a blueprint for two more in the next few months, and a further two next year. According to managing director David Kenton, who took charge of Rigby & Peller when his parents retired in 2000, much of this growth has come about following the appointment of Maurice Miller as chairman 18 months ago.
“Maurice has been invaluable to Rigby & Peller,” says Kenton. “Although he’s had to learn a lot about the lingerie industry, he has a strong financial background and has brought a real strategy into the business.” That strategy, which has recently included the appointment of a financial controller, opens the doors to great potential, and not just in the south. “Ultimately, we’re looking at having not much beyond 15 and 20 stores, but we’re not sure of the length of time this will take,” says Kenton. “The only certain thing is that we’ll be operating in high streets in which we feel comfortable, as we want to be surrounded by the right neighbours, which is possibly why it’s taken us so long to get to where we are.”
In a bid to cement its position in Greater London first, the fourth store will open on London’s Kings Road this month, and the fifth in Bluewater Shopping Centre next month, while two more are planned within the M25 catchment area for 2008.
The new King’s Road branch will, at 1,800 sq ft, be Rigby & Peller’s largest store to date. Located near Sloane Square, opposite Peter Jones, and next door to shirt maker TM Lewin, the store is based over two floors. The ground floor will display a selection of stock and a seating area, while downstairs are 10 fitting rooms and a waiting area. “We did a lot of market research into our existing database, and looked at areas within London where they live and to a greater degree where it feels right for us to be positioned,” explains Kenton. “King’s Road feels right as there are a high number of residents in the area, and it also attracts fashion-conscious shoppers from outside the area, helping us to pick up a lot of new business.”
Next month, meanwhile, will see the opening of a store in Bluewater, Kent, the second Rigby & Measuring 1,700 sq ft – again bigger than Hans Road at 1,000 sq ft and Conduit Street at 1,400 sq ft – but operating on one floor with 12 fitting rooms, the store will be based in the more “upmarket” Guild Hall section of the centre, situated in between House of Fraser and John Lewis. Although it took a bit of convincing for Kenton to look at Bluewater as a serious contender, he was won over by plans to develop the surrounding area. “We wanted to understand what was happening in the area before we committed, but after hearing about plans to develop another quarry on the other side of the A2 into a community with houses, offices and convenience stores, we realised it attracted a broader clientele in terms of age and demographics than we originally thought.”
Each new store will emulate the Brent Cross store and maintain key Rigby & Peller trademarks, such as the R&P logo carpet, but the chandelier, and setting will have a much more contemporary feel than the Knightsbridge and Mayfair stores. “As we’re at the start of a larger plan, we realised we had to have some identity that fits either in the high street or a shopping centre,” says Kenton. “A shopping centre customer is different to a boutique customer and it has taken time to educate the women we get into the Brent Cross store as to what we do, as they see little hang sell compared to department stores. That’s why we’re endeavouring to install some kind of audio visual version of our leaflet to explain what we do, as well as promotional videos from our manufacturers.”
One thing that will stay consistent throughout the expansion will be Rigby & Peller’s commitment to service. “The most important thing is customer service and we won’t do anything that will cause it to deteriorate. None of our fitters are on commission and we always say that every woman is a customer, regardless of whether she buys a £30 bra from Patricia or a £70 bra from Lejaby.” The fact that the company’s website, www.rigbyandpeller.com, which was redeveloped in June 2006, represents less than 10 per cent of overall business is consistent with the fact that the business is all about face-to-face interaction. Most of the orders taken tend to be reorders of styles that women have been fitted with in-store. Rigby & Peller is also keen to stick with its current choice of brands, which is identical in each store and is the result of strong partnerships with a select number of manufacturers. The buying team has to ensure there is a six to eight week cover on continuity products in the warehouse on top of the stock needed to kit out each new store. Not an easy feat, when initially working with no historical data, but Kenton is confident the systems they have in place will work effectively. There are also plans in the pipeline to reintroduce a Rigby & Peller lingerie brand following the recent end of an agreement with Eveden. However, when it does happen it will be exclusive to the shops and not available to wholesale. “The agreement with Eveden had worked well since 1993, but we both felt that it caused a little bit of confusion in the market place,” says Kenton. “We’re retailers first and foremost, but watch this space.”
While the market may have become a lot more fashion-oriented, Rigby & Peller has always been ahead of its time in terms of fit. “My mother is a great ambassador for the lingerie industry, and although my parents now both have what they call a “walk on, walk off” role, they’re still a mine of information and a great sounding board, particularly in terms of product and store design,” he adds. The future of his parent’s legacy, however, lies in David Kenton’s hands, a role he’s making the most of. “We’re not just a small family business any more – we’re so much more than that.”