Flannels (retail)

Neil Prosser founded Flannels in 1976 with a menswear store in Knutsford, Cheshire.[11] After four years he opened a second outlet in Altrincham’s Goose Green[12] to much success and the inevitable happened in 1987 when Flannels opened a store in Manchester city centre. This ‘flagship’ store introduced new labels to the city for the first time such as Giorgio Armani, Canali, Paul Smith, CP Company and Stone Island.[13][14]

Based on the necessity to divide more casual and formal ranges, the ‘Life’ store on Manchester’s Old Bank Street was opened, selling a much younger, street-based style of product.[15]

In 1994 Flannels expanded into the womenswear market, opening two new shops in Manchester’s Royal Exchange Arcade.[15] A Life store in Birmingham and an accessories store in Leeds (where a Flannels store had opened a year earlier in 1993) also opened in this year.[12]

Neil Prosser’s friendship with successful retailer Jim Gibson led to a joint venture in 1995[15] with women's and menswear stores under the name Cruise Flannels being opened in Nottingham, and subsequently in Birmingham and Newcastle in 1996.

In February 2000 Prosser and Gibson parted ways after their venture grew to 17 stores nationwide, and the Cruise Flannels shops in Birmingham and Nottingham were rebranded as Flannels sites.[15] In May 2004, Flannels Cardiff opened. with an attached restaurant.[16]

In April 2006, the first Flannels store in Liverpool opened in the city’s luxury shopping destination, the Metquarter.[15] A flagship Flannels store was then opened in the 2008 development, Liverpool One,[17] creating a concept store covering 20,000sq feet across three floors. The store’s cool, spacious design sets the new blueprint for Flannels stores featuring original pieces and Parisian antiques in a minimal contemporary setting.

2018 saw the group unveil the first of its multi-million pound refurbishments starting with a 10,000sq ft store in the Westgate shopping centre in Oxford. In May, the group opened a 20,000sq ft store in Newcastle [18] followed by stores in Sutton and Chester in August 2019. By the end of 2019 Flannels opened further stores in Watford, Belfast, York. Flannels York opened within part of the former British Home Stores shop on Coney Street, which had been empty since 29 August 2016.[19] September 2019 saw the brand open its flagship London store on Oxford Street[20]. The 20,000sq ft store was designed by Italian architects pconp and artist Riccardo Previdi [21]. The design has been nominated for a Retail Week award for best store design.

In November 2019, the Newcastle store won a Drapers award for best store design [22].

December 2019 saw the opening of Flannel's largest store to date in the Victoria Square, Belfast [23]. The 30,000sq ft store is situated on the top floor of the Frasers store and includes the first Flannels Cafe.

The Flannels website was launched in 2007 as an extension of the business offering the same designer brands available in store as well as a designer clearance section.[24] In January 2010, the website was overhauled by retail systems company Eurostop[25] – overseeing the retailer’s electronic point of sale (EpoS) software and head office retail management – and in July 2012 the system was updated to integrate key business processes including a mobile site.[26][27][28]

• Official website
• SportsDirect.com