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Debenhams

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Debenhams plc (LSE: DEB) is a retailer with a chain of department stores based in the United Kingdom, and franchised stores in a number of other countries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Debenhams Plc
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryRetailing
FoundedLondon (1813)
SuccessorBurton Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersLondon
Key people
John Lovering, Chairman
Rob Templeman,Jamie Davis
ProductsClothing, cosmetics, housewares
RevenueIncrease £2,090 million GBP (2005)
Number of employees
19,000
Websitewww.debenhams.com

History

The original Debenhams & Freebody store was based at number 33 Wigmore Street, London W1. This site is still used by the company and houses its communications departments, including their Press Office.

The modern Debenhams group grew from the acquisition of department stores in towns and cities throughout the UK, through its chairman Ernest Debenham. The first of such purchases, Marshall & Snelgrove in Oxford Street, London was acquired in 1919. Later purchases included stores such as Harvey Nichols in London's Knightsbridge and Browns of Chester. Most stores retained their former identities until a unified corporate image was rolled out across the stores.

Debenhams was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1928 and continued to expand. In 1985 the company was acquired by the Burton Group. At this point the company owned 65 stores. Debenhams demerged in 1998 and was once again listed as a separate company.

Like many companies of this type Debenhams had some hard times. But in 1997 Belinda Earl a previous employee of the company retuned later to become its Chief Executive. She and Spencer Hawken introduced "Designers at Debenhams" which bought a variety of well known fashion talents to the stores at affordable prices, shaking off the dated perception of the company.

The company expanded rapidly throughout the 1990s and now has a total of 135 stores in the UK and Ireland with new stores recently opened at the MetroCentre in Gateshead and Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

In 2002 the Nectar loyalty card was introduced with Debenhams as a major sponsor. This card now allows customers to collect loyalty points from a range of retailers such as Sainsbury's, BP, Beefeater and Ford amongst others. Despite some criticism, the Debenhams Account Card is still a major source of revenue for the company ensuring customer loyalty and targeted mailings.

Debenhams also offers Debenhams Wedding Gift Service, where couples can create their wedding gift lists with Debenhams for which guests can buy from. In addition to the Debenhams Consumer website where customers can purchase online goods, Debenhams now offer a Debenhams To You service, where goods can searched for and located over the telephone, or through a special in-store telephone so that items can be sent to the customer's home address.

Another service that selected Debenhams stores offer, is the personal shopper service. This is an exclusive service that requires pre-booking, either over the telephone, or in store. Customers will benefit from a personal shopper, trained to look at the requirements of the individual and with the knowledge of current trends. The personal shopper has a strong knowledge of what Debenhams offers and what items would suit the individual's requirements/look.

The company was taken over in late 2003 by a private consortium comprising CVC Capital Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity and management. The company returned to the stock exchange on 4th May 2006.

Recently voted 8th most favourably viewed brand by Marketing Magazine 2006

The store has been trialling a compact version called Desire by Debenhams which is mainly aimed at the female market with designerwear and cosmetics.

Not only is Debenhams a retailer, its other divisions include Debenhams Finance which covers home, car and travel insurance, as well as the travel money scheme and Debenhams Mobile.

On 8 August 2006 it was confirmed that Debenhams is to buy out 9 of 11 the Roches Stores chain of department stores in Ireland and operate them as Debenhams.

Underlying sales performance has been poorer than expected during the recent return to the stockmarket by Rob Templemen. The existing final salary pension scheme is also to be axed following 'financial strain' on the company.

Store format

Debenhams stores are currently departmentalized as follows:

  • Health and Beauty (Cosmetics, Fragrances & Toiletries)
  • Womenswear (Designer Women's Clothing, Bridalwear & Lingerie)
  • Menswear (Men's Casual Clothing, Sportswear, Formalwear, Men's Accessories, Footwear)
  • Fashion Accessories (Handbags, Jewellery, Men's & Women's watches, Women's Footwear)
  • Young Fashion (Red Herring, Oasis, Jane Norman, Topshop etc)
  • Home (Bedding, Electrical, Furniture, Soft Furnishings, China, Lighting, Luggage & Kitchenware)
  • Children's (Children's Clothes, Accessories, Footwear & Toys)
  • Food Services (The Restaurant & Cafe Venue in most stores)
  • Wedding Services (also known as Celebration)

Debenhams stores vary greatly in size from the flagship store in Oxford Street, London to the smaller stores in locations such as Bangor. Some such stores do not have a full range of departments.

Part of Debenhams's source of business is concessions. These are 'shop-in-shops' which can be found in most Debenhams stores such as Young Fashion companies 'Oasis' and Ladieswear outlet 'Evans'.

The company's innovation has proved successful by introducing branding into its menswear and ladieswear lines. The 'Designers at Debenhams' include Jasper Conran, John Richmond, John Rocha, The Duffer of St. George and Betty Jackson.

Online shopping

Debenham's website is run by a separate company called Debenhams Direct, which also operates their catalogue shopping service. Not all stock shown on the website will be available in any particular store, and vice versa. Orders placed in store via, for example, the Debenham's Wedding Service may be delivered in part by Debenhams and in part by Debenhams Direct.

United Kingdom

All of the company's UK department stores currently trade as 'Debenhams', except 'Browns' in Chester. Debenhams also operates an expanding number of 'Desire by Debenhams' concept stores, the first of which opened in Truro in 2004.

London

South East England

South West England

  • Bath Opening with the completion of the Southgate redevelopment c. 2009
  • Bournemouth (formerly Bobbys Bournemouth)
  • Bristol (formerly Jones)
  • Exeter (formerly Bobbys Exeter / Green & Son) Relocating in August 2007 to flagship style store in the new Princesshay shopping development.
  • Plymouth (formerly Spooners and John Yeo)
  • Salisbury (formerly Style & Gerrish)
  • Swindon
  • Taunton (formerly W & A Chapman)
  • Taunton, Bedford House (Taunton Head Office)
  • Torquay (formerly Bobbys Torquay)
  • Truro, Desire by Debenhams
  • Weymouth

Central England

Yorkshire

North East England

North West England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

International locations

All department stores in international locations (except the Republic of Ireland) trade under the 'Debenhams' name under a franchise agreement. Two of the franchisees 'Ermes' in Cyprus and 'SOGO' in Indonesia also buy Debenhams goods to sell in their own department stores as well as operating 'full-line' Debenhams franchise stores. This process is sometimes known as 'brand franchising'.

Bahrain

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Hungary

Iceland

Indonesia

Kuwait

Malaysia

A Debenhams was opened at Berjaya Times Square, Kuala Lumpur. It was closed in 2006.

Philippines

Qatar

Republic of Ireland

Unlike other international locations, all Republic of Ireland stores are directly operated by Debenhams plc under the company name Dehenham Retail (Ireland) Ltd. The former Roches Stores are sublet from the Roche family, as of March 2007 all but two are now branded Debenhams.

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Sweden

A Debenhams was opened in central Stockholm in 2002, however it was decided that the store would be closed down after Christmas 2006, due to the difficulties of competing with the local department stores PUB and Åhléns[1]

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

References

  1. ^ http://www.dinapengar.se/Avdelningar/Artikel.aspx?ArticleID=2006\09\07\1323

Official websites:

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