Smiggle opens seven UK stores – 11 more planned this year
UK Trade & Investment has worked closely with Australian retailer Smiggle to support it in bringing its popular stationery brand to the UK.
Australian stationery retailer Smiggle has launched a sizeable expansion campaign, opening seven stores and a head office in the UK. Eleven more stores are to be opened across the UK by December 2014, each employing around 10 people.
Having almost reached saturation point in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, Smiggle began to look for a fourth market to enter. The company’s focus was to find a large market with potential for high sales and profit growth. Having carried out extensive research and visited the UK several times, Smiggle and the Just Group were confident that the UK met the criteria.
Between February and June 2014, we opened seven new stores and took on 70 employees. The speed with which we achieved all this is unprecedented in our other overseas markets.
John Cheston, Managing Director, Smiggle