Schuh

Since the first shop was established in 1981 in the North Bridge Arcade in Edinburgh, Schuh has been a rapidly expanding retailer. Today Schuh is positioned at the leading edge of the fashion footwear industry and trades profitably from 37 units throughout the UK.

The challenge

Following its decision to open a store in London, Schuh wanted to identify the main shopping centres in London's West End and wanted to build on their existing West End knowledge. Schuh approached CACI for advice on where they should precisely locate to, to ensure that they avoid the risk of failure. Schuh were investing a great deal of money and their reputation in attempting to break the London Market, so an informed decision of where best to locate was vital.

The Schuh customer is not determined by age so much as by lifestyle. They are male & female, young or young at heart, with an interest in fashion, footwear, and looking good. Schuh wanted to identify certain hotspots in London that would reach their intended target market, to maximise the return on investment from its sales and to assess the risks and strengths of locating in potential areas. They wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the shopping catchments of the West End and find suitable locations to generate profitable growth.

The solution

CACI began by creating a detailed analysis of the 45 retail sub market's within London's West End. This analysis provided a general picture of each retail centre, the main expenditure streams that affected the centres and identified locations with occupational cost advantages.

This then enabled CACI to assess location potential and establish opportunities for new store locations. These retail centre types were compared and their retail attractiveness scores were calculated. The four main expenditure streams were identified and results were delivered as a ranking of retail expenditure by shopper type by location, indicating not only the potential of each sub market but also the risks associated with bias towards particular customer types. A clearer definition of the makeup of each street through the classifying process led to a better understanding of the population and expenditure pulls for each of the streets in London's West End.

The results and benefits

In undertaking detailed analysis and supplying market indicators, CACI provided Schuh with tools and understanding that determined their strategy and assisted them in the evaluation of property opportunities in London's West End. They gained a deeper understanding of the shopping catchments in the area, which enabled Schuh to make an educated decision on the best place to locate in the capital. As a result of CACI's work, Schuh decided to open their largest store to date with 11,000 square feet of space, in Oxford Street, London. Schuh has continued to work with CACI and in June 2004 CACI reran a UK wide retail ranking for them, for the next stage of expansion.

Tom Lynch, Store Operations Director at Schuh comments,

“ CACI provided us with a solution that was exclusively tailored towards our requirements. The use of CACI data has been fundamental in our decision-making processes and we will continue to work with them in the future.”

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