Warehouse has been around for 30 years and has 263 stores, suggesting a large fan base. The chain sums up its appeal thus: “styley [sic], confident, sexy, glamorous, edgy, clean and individual, with it’s [sic] finger on the fashion pulse.”
Now, bad spelling is certainly odious, but it does not explain why I found it so difficult to find a Warehouse enthusiast to accompany me to a branch and let me in on the secret of its success. Most people of my acquaintance considered the chain to be for teenagers only. They deemed the target customer to be the kind of grumpy-looking Goth who features as the face of Warehouse on the website of its parent company, Rubicon Retail.
As for myself, I have never seen Warehouse as being too young, but as being too bland. Such retail prejudices, however, can cramp your style, and this was the argument I used to persuade my colleague Lucia to come with me to the Warehouse at Canary Wharf. This financial district, to the east of the City, has a sizeable shopping mall under the glittering towers that house the multinational banks.
It is possible that Warehouse reserves its more edgy ranges for less uptight parts of town, for little of the stock on show, including the puffed-sleeve blouses (£35), white cropped trousers (£35) and a batik-pattern full skirt (£45) would have been out of place at Principles, Warehouse’s less confrontational sister chain. Only the denim hotpants (£30) and the string bikinis (tops, £12; bottoms, £12) bordered on the daring and adolescent.
A Goth would have scorned the dresses as either too formal or too girly: a white broderie anglaise shift dress (£60), a white piqué A-line dress (£50), or a green-and-white print dress with shoe-string straps (£45) could not have been worn with a scowl. The evening frocks were also more demure than directional: Lucia — who had previously been as sceptical as everyone else I know about Warehouse’s merits — was most impressed with two high-waisted styles in eau de nil green, one in satin (£80), the other in chiffon (£65).
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But something held us back from buying, and it was not our disapproval of the standards of spelling. Other chains, such as Coast, which charge only slightly more for dresses have stores with much more comfort and space. The Canary Wharf branch was densely packed with clothing in the manner of a discount retailer — without the compensation of very low prices.
THE LINKS IN THE CHAIN
Warehouse was founded in 1976 by Maurice and Michael Bennett and Jeff Banks. Don McCarthy, the chief executive of Rubicon Retail, owns 63 per cent of the group; pre-tax profits in the year to January 31, 2005, were £13.4 million on sales of £129.4 million
DETAIL IS RETAIL
Layout: cramped 5/10
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Staff: try their best to keep a tiny shop tidy 6/10
Changing rooms: perfectly adequate 7/10
Bags: serviceable rather than a style statement 6/10
Website: inaccurate store opening times 4/10
Overall score: the frocks pass the test; the rest needs attention 6/10
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