Outfit (retailer)
Outfit is a UK company which forms part of the Arcadia Group and began life in the 1990s. It sells a range of clothing, footwear and accessories for both men and women.
The company began life in the 1990s when Sears plc saw a gap in the market. The 1990s saw a big growth in out of town retail parks which seemed to be the new alternative to town centre shopping. Sears saw this as an opportunity to house all their fashion brands under one roof.
The first Outfit store opened in 1995 at Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham. The Nottingham store proved such a success that more stores soon opened.
In 1999 Outfit became part of Arcadia Group Ltd and is continually growing.
About Outfit
Outfit currently have 76 stores in the UK. Each store has a range of well-known brands including Arcadias own high street stores Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, and Wallis. Outfit is home to a number of concessions including formally Arcadia owned Warehouse and others including Oasis, Quiz, Little Mistress, Jack & Jones and Fuse.
The Outfit MasterCard
The Outfit card can be used in Outfit and any of the 7 Network stores (Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop and Wallis). It can also be used in any store worldwide that accepts MasterCard. It is a store card with credit being provided by NewDay Limited. The card can be opened in any Outfit store in the UK and offers the customer 20% off their first purchase. Also on opening the card the customer is given 6 months worth of vouchers entitling them to money off in any of the 7 network stores when the pay using their Outfit card. Outfit also hold special event days for account card holders where they can normally receive a 20% discount throughout the store. On top of that card holders will receive vouchers though the post throughout the year.
Charity
Outfit's charity of the year 2010 was Rainbow Trust Children's Charity. On 6 April new key rings featuring Zippy, Bungle and George began to be sold in-store for a suggested donation of £2. As well as kind donations from customers Outfit staff are also getting involved with a range of fundraising activities.
Outfit's charity for 2011 is the Alzheimer's Society and customers can purchase jewelled keyrings in a variety of colours for a suggested donation of £2.
Outfit's current charity is Teenage Cancer Trust, promoted through various forms of fundraising including: -Staff fancy dress days -Charity stock such as sunglasses -Trolly tokens and car air fresheners -Donations through collection tubs at the till points
Retail brands
All or most Outfit stores include Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, and Wallis departments and a majority of stores offer Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Oasis and Evans (Warehouse is no longer owned by Arcadia, but is continuing as a department in Outfit under arrangement with the current owners Aurora Fashions). . Concession brand Fuse is available in approximately 42 stores each (each store carries a different lineup of brands).
Young fashion is a key area of growth for Outfit going forwards and Topshop is key to this.
References
http://www.outfitfashion.com/about.html