Selfridges is making its largest investment in Birmingham since it opened 10 years ago, as the renaissance in city centre retail continues.
The department store giant is investing £20 million in a major refit at its landmark shop, bringing in a host of new brands and creating about 70 jobs over two years.
Redevelopment work, which has already begun, will see every floor at receive a complete overhaul as the company targets a 25 per cent rise in sales.
The first phase – which includes new dedicated menswear and womenswear floors – will be completed before Christmas, ahead of a major step forward for the city’s scene in 2015.
The year ahead will see the open – including the giant new store – as well as a £50 million upgrade to The Mailbox completed.
Sue West, director of operations at Selfridges, said: “This store is more than 10 years old now and it is logical to really start to look at the spaces. We can see which areas need more, beauty has been crying out for more space for a couple of years now.
“As far as Birmingham is concerned there is a huge investment programme and an amazing 20-year vision,” she added.
“It is something that we have been talking to various parties about ever since we started more than 10 years ago. It is great to see that vision documented for everyone to see, and something like HS2 is an amazing catalyst for all that.”
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Selfridges’ Birmingham department store launched in September 2003 and its trademark has become one of the city’s most recognisable features.
But it will face stiff competition when the new John Lewis store – stocking more than 350,000 products and creating 650 jobs – opens alongside more than 40 stores as part of Grand Central.
Meanwhile, the is designed to increase destination shopping at the high-end location. Selfridges has already begun work on its three-year masterplan by expanding its beauty area by 50 per cent. It is also building a new beauty workshop, as part of plans to boost destination shopping.
The workshop, Selfridges’ only one outside London, will offer services like manicures, wash and blow dry, spray-tanning.
It will have moved menswear onto one floor by May 26, with shopfitting starting in September, and both middle floors completed by Christmas.
Giant curved glass window displays at the main entrances in the mall will also be installed to replicate the imaginative window schemes at its Oxford Street store.
Ms West said the plans were four years in the making, and well-placed to capitalise on improving fortunes for Birmingham city centre.
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With the shop bordering on Eastside, Ms West said it was set to benefit from the .
“It’s not so much about shopping. Birmingham is at the centre of the country. High Speed 2 will bring more investment for businesses, create new offices and more manufacturing and bring more people into the shop,” she said. “It all goes hand in hand.”
Selfridges says the work has enabled it to attract new brands to Birmingham, many of which cannot be found elsewhere, including The Kooples and Maje for women, Shu Uemura, Illamasqua, Suqqu and RMK in the beauty hall and Michael Kors, Boy London, Sandro and Burberry in menswear.
Ms West said there would also be a focus on culture, entertainment and events, although she said it was not a reaction to the giant 250,000 sq ft John Lewis set to open in the city in 2015.
She said: “We are not frightened to talk about John Lewis, we sit next to John Lewis in London – we’re only a couple of streets away – and we sit next to John Lewis in the Trafford Centre.
“We see them very much as a very strong retailer and I think for Birmingham it is a great thing they are coming into the city.
“The difference with Selfridges is we see ourselves very much as a destination. We really invest in the customer experience. I don’t think there are many other retailers investing as much as we are investing.”
Ms West said Selfridges had learned much about the Birmingham market in the past decade, and was planning the store accordingly.
She said the fact it is Europe’s youngest city, as well as one of the most diverse, meant it had different demands to the London store.
She said: “We have the ability, because we are only four stores, not 400, to work with each of the markets closely.
“That can be around culture and arts, but we also have the opportunity to look and say Birmingham is performing really well in a certain sector and build up that sector, and bring in new brands.
“Manchester and Birmingham city centres are completely different cities and stores.
“Birmingham we see together with all the development going on as a very strong youth city.
“We think it is becoming a lot stronger on the cultural side of things.
“They love their brands, but a lot of the young street brands do really well here, so we bring in some brands we wouldn’t have in London.”
The £20 million project will be invested in ceilings, lighting, floors, brand fit-outs and shop fits, with the first phase, the middle two floors, completed this year and work on the top and bottom floors undertaken over the next 18 months.
Vicki Cain, general manager of Selfridges Birmingham, said: “We have already begun this programme of transformation, which will be undertaken with the store remaining open throughout. It is an exciting time for the business and I relish the opportunity to help Selfridges prepare for its next decade in Birmingham.”
Selfridges commissioned Ab Rogers Design to redesign the shop floors to maximise the flow of the shopping experience and give added vibrancy to the surroundings.
Its founder Mr Rogers, who is also head of interior design at The Royal College of Art, said: “New entrances will set the store in a dramatic frame, communicating to visitors that they are entering an exceptional retail space that feels fresh and alive. The design carries a strong narrative and will stimulate the eye, offering unobstructed views and clear sightlines to retail displays and circulation routes.
“The existing columns and atriums are exceptional assets and will be used as landmarks to punctuate a space that cries out to be explored; a place which will deliver extraordinary moments as part of an experience that – in terms of both atmosphere and architecture – will be unlike anything in the city.”