Hunter pays £4m to fashion USC into shops for the boys

Published on Tuesday 21 August 2007 12:15

SIR TOM HUNTER is to invest £4 million in his USC fashion retail chain to transform its UK outlets into male concept stores and provide fashion hubs with the most "expansive list of brand names in their respective cities".

The investment is geared towards giving the outlets, including the group's original base in Edinburgh, a new look and feel and provide a more specialised fashion base for the firm's core male customers.

Driving the revamp is what the company described as "a marked change in direction of the USC brand in response to the changing face of men's fashion".

The bulk of the investment will go on regenerating the USC brand with a significant part of it also being spent on its 57 UK shops, with the aim of creating "destination outlets" where men can buy a complete wardrobe of clothes.

A spokeswoman for USC said the group would invest a six-figure sum in its two Edinburgh outlets, on Princes Street and in Princes Mall.

Despite the focus on men's fashion, USC - which Sir Tom bought in 2004 - still intends to cater for its female customers, but its womenswear presence will be reduced to just 25 per cent.

It is expected the Capital outlets will see work get under way in February or March next year.

But the wraps will come off the new look first in Nottingham next month following a 400,000 refurbishment that will create 30 new jobs.

Jo Bohling, UK brand director for USC, said: "We strongly believe there is a gap in the menswear market and we're looking to fill it with the UK roll-out of the USC concept we're implementing initially in Nottingham.

"We believe there's a significant opportunity to expand and diversify our menswear department."

According to USC, the men's fashion market is worth around 12 billion a year in the UK and the firm believes "there is a growing need to address the issues faced by many men when it comes to fashion".

"This is particularly apparent between the 25-40 age bracket where men want to go and buy branded clothing but need to go to several stores to find the right mix," said Ms Bohling.

"We're trying to create a destination store where the contents of a gent's wardrobe can be found under the one roof."

Last year, the company made a pre-tax loss of 8.7m against a profit of 3.4m the year before. The overhaul is part of plans to return the chain to the black.