Streetwear brand Represent will open the doors to its first UK store this Saturday (26 October) in its hometown of Manchester, following a period of mass growth.
The 5,419 sq ft store on New Cathedral Street in Manchester City Centre, is the first permanent retail space for the brand in the UK, having opened a bespoke boutique store in West Hollywood, Los Angeles earlier this year.
Following what it called a “year of rapid growth”, an entire floor of the store will be dedicated to Represent’s performance wear division, 247 by Represent. 247, which it said is “now the fastest growing arm of the brand”, is projected to account for 14% of the business by the end of 2024.
The luxury menswear retailer said it is on track for a record £100m turnover by the end of the year and £250m turnover by 2028.
Founded in Manchester in 2011 by brothers George and Michael Heaton, Represent sales have grown at an average of 81.4% over the past 3 years, and it has gone from a business ran out of the brothers’ father’s shed, to being named one of the fastest-growing private company in the UK by The Sunday Times in June.
Until this year, the streetwear brand had been an online business selling via its website, however, it did sell through Selfridges, Harrods, and End Clothing.
Founder and creative director George Heaton said: “As we continue to grow as a brand, opening our first physical UK store was a natural progression. Given that Represent was born in Manchester, and it’s where our global HQ is based, the city was the only choice – it is in our DNA.
“The Represent Manchester location marks an important and iconic milestone for the brand; having spent the past three years planning physical retail footprints, trialling the senses of energy, look, feel, and scent through our partners such as Selfridges and Harrods along the process.”
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