Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The US kitchenware, tabletop and homewares chain Crate & Barrel has mothballed its plans to enter the UK market.
According to a report in yesterday’s Independent, the retailer, which has over 170 stores in America, is thought to be nervous about the instability in Europe and competitiveness of the UK market.
Crate & Barrel’s intention to set up shop in the UK emerged earlier this year with reports that it was seeking locations in London. The Independent says the retailer considered Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City shopping centres and Regent Street. A separate report said that Tottenham Court Road had also been on the cards. The flagship store was expected to have been operating by the middle of next year.
It was unclear whether the company planned to launch as Crate & Barrel or as CB2, a scaled-down version of the original concept, aimed at a younger shopper.
Although the company’s UK bricks-and-mortar plans are now on hold, UK consumers can nevertheless access its merchandise via its website, from which it ships to over 90 countries, with prices in the local currency.
Crate & Barrel is owned by the German catalogue enterprise Otto Group, which also owns the Freemans and Grattan catalogue businesses.
