Brown Thomas unveiled their new 62,000 sf ft (6.000m2) store at Dundrum Town Centre yesterday, which promises to be 'Ireland’s most innovative physical retail experience'. The new store is offering a 'new approach to fashion' with a big focus on rental, resale and restoration services. Their new Full Circle service enables customers to bring their pre-loved handbags in-store to be exchanged for a Brown Thomas Gift Card, while new sustainability initiative ‘Beauty Cycle’ allows customers to recycle beauty empties and receive BT loyalty points for each deposit made.
The new 12,000 sq ft (1.200m2) beauty hall is home to new concept Planet Beauty, a curated edit of 60 sustainable beauty and wellness brands. The store also offers a salon experience with treatments including manicures, pedicures, brows and lashes as well as BT's new "Get a Drip" service - an experience offering IV vitamin drips, IV injections, booster shots and instant vitamin C and D testing and bespoke consultations to provide tailored beauty packages.
The store at Dundrum Town Centre is offering brands including Balmain, Loewe, and Givenchy. The activewear brand Sweaty Betty launched in-store as well. The men’s section includes designer brands such as Moncler, Stone Island, BOSS and The North Face. Brown Thomas worked exclusively with a cohort of Irish artists when designing this store, including Ciara O’Neill, who will be the first Brown Thomas Dundrum artist in residence.
‘The Apartment’, an experience themed as an apartment living area offering customers a designated sanctuary space removed from the main shopping areas, creates a relaxed environment to combine socialising and shopping. Able to accommodate up to ten visitors, the apartment can be reserved during shopping hours and customers can book beauty services, masterclasses, brand presentations, private fashion shows and personal shopping sessions. For those who like to snack while they shop, the Edition Cafe is serving up salads, brunch dishes and afternoon tea, as it does in BT's Grafton Street store. The new €12mn store will employ 400 people, 170 of whom will be part-time and the rest full-time. The store will focus on the bricks-and-mortar retail experience.
Brown Thomas had a gross profit of almost €74mn in the financial period ending on January 30, 2021. This is compared to a gross profit of nearly €85mn during the financial period ending in February 2020. From 2020 to 2021, the chain cut its staff costs as well from €38mn to almost €35mn. Gross profit for Brown Thomas in the pre-pandemic year 2019 was approximately €80mn. CEO McDonald said the lack of foreign shoppers due to travel restrictions did not impact the luxury retailer. “Since we opened on the 10th of May last year, we’ve seen an increase in business on 2019 levels, both in our physical stores and in our digital business,” Mr McDonald added and “last Christmas was one of the best that Brown Thomas has had in terms of trade”.
Click here to watch the video of Brown Thomas’s new store in Dundrum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQZLakSTKVE