How much time do you spend in an Anthropologie store on each visit? Can you see yourself spending an entire morning, afternoon or perhaps even day there? Anthro’s hoping so. On the heels of three straight exceptional quarter performances parent company Urban Outfitters has unveiled plans to supersize Anthropologie from a store into something so much more: a destination.
Picture this: the day before you call ahead to Anthropologie. You schedule a blowout for you and a few friends in the morning. On your way into the store the next day you run by the cafe and pick up a latte, maybe a scone or a small delight to munch on. Once your hair is done you and your friends wander around a store three times the size of a normal Anthropologie, expanded with brands beyond the in-store labels to more high-end labels a la Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney, APC, Joie, Tibi, Surface to Air, and so on. Instead of a shoe wall there’s a section complete with everything from running shoes to over-the-knee boots. Mixed among the Maeve and Moulinette Soeurs dresses are options from boutique brands. An entire section of handbags and clutches lies beyond, and past that is the homewares section where dishes spill over picnic tables and dining bars while mugs of every size and shape hang from the walls. Beds are covered in embellished duvets and quilts with more pillows than your partner will ever want on the bed.
What does this sound like to you? Heaven? Nordstrom? Bergdorf Goodman? According to a report by Bloomberg and Racked, this may soon be what shopping at the newest Anthropologies is like. Eyeing a future where shoppers make more and more purchases via a mobile device, executives are looking for any way they can to engage customers and drive them into stores. Their idea? Creating an Anthropologie department store where you can shop for more than just clothing, home and accessories. These new stores will have a foot print three time the size of current Anthro brick an mortar locations, will expand beyond the current offerings into new categories while adding more brands to what they already carry and offer bonus services like food, drink and beauty. Luxe lingerie will rub elbows with more makeup, skincare and perfume options. More wedding dresses than you can imagine will be in the bridal area. And so on.
This idea already exists in reality in many urban and large suburban centers around the country. You’ll find cafes and salons inside many department stores already, and they have floor upon floor of different products. Heck, even Walmart has everything from furniture to groceries to socks. How will Anthropologie set itself apart? They’re banking on the appeal of their in-house brands, with the addition of other carefully selected brands at your fingertips, will drive larger purchases. Will that be true? In some ways, recognizing the power of online buying, Anthro is thinking of these department stores as a ‘showroom’ as much a store, according to the Bloomberg report.
In some places, these Anthropologie department stores will be the first Anthropologies in the area. Right now Anthro has 180 USA stores and they’re looking to open at least 20 more. In other areas, a current Anthropologie may close or relocate to a more spacious location to hold all the stuff they are planning to stuff in.
In truth Anthropologie’s been testing out this concept for a couple of years now. It began when BHLDNs started popping up inside of existing Anthropologie stores. We’ve also seen the addition of Petite sections to many Anthros. Beauty and lingerie have a bigger footprint in the stores than ever before. During a recent trip to Anthropologie’s Soho store here in NYC, I noticed that the home section now takes up nearly the entire right side of the store! (Shoes somehow were removed from the store altogether though which is such a blow! BRING THEM BACK ANTHRO. IMMEDIATELY.)
I checked with the Upper East Side Anthropologie and their BHLDN appointment calendar is fully booked through late November. Soho told me their home sales are up double digits since they expanded the offerings — though they miss offering shoes too. One thing I did not like in Soho was that the store felt more segregated. I love meandering through Anthro stores like a forest, where a bed might be surrounded by dresses, scarves and blouses and a tea set just for kicks. My recent trip to Soho felt more like I was walking through sections. Dining lives in one section, belts in another, less mix and match and outfit and decorating inspiration than I’ve seen in the past. During a recent focus group at Anthropologie’s home office several community members had a chance to try out the department store concept, and one piece of feedback I heard over and over was that everything felt “separate.” Dresses live here, shirts live there, very little in the way of mixing home, accessories and clothing together the way we’re used to. Of course this is early days and just the planning phase so perhaps there is mixing to come. I sure hope so. The focus groups did yield important data points for Anthropologie, including that customers are likely to triple their store time in these department store concepts over the hour they currently spend on average in Anthro stores. Can you see yourself spending 3 hours or more at Anthro department store? (I sure can…easily. But not every trip.)
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There is one hidden note among the recent quarterly earnings successes for Anthropologie. Among all their categories the one doing not so great is…can you guess? Clothing. So the powers that be have decided that must mean they need to look beyond apparel to continue the brand’s success. Here in the community we might have a different idea or two. Better materials, thoughtful designs…apparel sales could easily spike up again with the right corrections.
So really there are two ideas up for discussion here, and I’d like to turn this over to the community for thoughts and discussion and I’ll chime in as well. First, how do you feel about a possible Anthropologie department store? Would you be more likely to shop there than, say, a Nordstrom, or a Bloomingdales, or a Neiman Marcus, or a Bergdorf’s for my fellow NYC residents? What would the Anthro department store need to have to tempt you? Would you get services like a blowout at an Anthro department store? Would they charge $15 to gift wrap the way they do for shipping now?!?
And then the second idea is with apparel being among Anthro’s weakest categories currently, what do they need to do to right that ship? What connection to the customer is missing right now?
Further reading:
Urban Outfitters to Supersize Anthropologie Stores — Bloomberg
Anthropologie Mini-Malls Keep Shoppers Entertained for Hours — Racked
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