Trespass, the Scottish-based ski and outdoor company, is snapping up store locations in Britain’s distressed retail landscape to vastly expand its own retail network over the next months. While it already has 23 stores around the country, the tally should increase to 45 outlets by the end of next February.
The retail push should lead to 15 store openings before the end of the year, two of which will be in expensive London. While 12 of the current Trespass stores in the UK are located in outlet centers, the new ones will be mostly in downtown locations. Furthermore, 10 existing stores have been subjected to a face-lift over the last months.
The company is thus taking advantage of the troubles in the British retail scene, which has caused casualties and left landlords on the look-out for new tenants. At the same time, the investments are made possible by the rude health of Trespass, which recorded profits of around £11 million (€16.4m-$20.9m) last year on sales of £45 million (€67.1m-$85.4m). While ski and snowboard clothing still make up the largest chunk of its sales, Trespass has enjoyed particularly strong growth over the last years in the outdoor segment.
Outside the UK, Trespass has opted for a franchise retail format, with some stores in outlet centers and run by their distributors. There are stores under the Trespass banner in several European countries, including 5 stores in Russia, 4 in the Czech Republic, 3 in Belgium, 2 in the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden and the Ukraine, and some more in Germany, Ireland, Slovakia and France.
