Barcelona and Madrid.

“Longer term, our plan is to become

the best accessories brand, wherever

we are operating,” explains

International Business Development

Manager Filipe Correia. “We are looking

at opening a minimum of 30 new

stores per year. Most of the openings

will be in markets where we already

have stores, in order to increase our

presence, but also through expansionHaving opened its first store

nearly 15 years ago,

Portugal-based fashion

accessory specialist Parfois

has excelled in serving early adopters

and followers of fashion with a

sophisticated and well-designed range.

The company currently operates 170

stores in 19 markets – including

France, Spain, Portugal, Romania,

Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan,

Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,

Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Angola and

Mozambique – and in four of these

markets, France, Spain, Portugal and

Poland, Parfois has made strong, direct

investment. In all other markets, the

retailer has expanded through a strong

network of franchise partners.

Most recently, the company opened

a new store in Paris, with further 2009

openings scheduled in Zagreb,

16 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2009

FILIPE CORREIA

FOCUSING VERY CLEARLY UPON A NEW STORE DESIGN CONCEPT, PARFOIS IS

FINDING THE KEY TO CUSTOMER RETENTION IS TO GUARANTEE A FRESH AND

EXCITING RANGE THAT IS REGULARLY UPDATED. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FILIPE CORREIA TALKS ABOUT THIS AND THE BRAND’S

SUSTAINED GROWTH

Forward fashion

parfois.qxp 06/10/2009 15:18 Page 2

have used all of

our resources to

provide the best

and biggest possible

offer on this,” he

continues. “At the

moment, sales show

an increase of

demand for hair

accessories; our

designers and buyers

do pay attention to

short-term trends and we’re

updating our displays to

accommodate a greater offer in

the stores.”

Of course in a competitive

environment, brand loyalty is becoming

even more difficult to achieve and

clients are more demanding these

days: “You must be able to offer the

right product in terms of design,

material and price at every moment.

You just can’t miss it!” says Correia.

In a tough trading environment,

Parfois has enjoyed very positive

results with like-for-like sales growing.

From 2006-2009, total growing is

almost reaching 60 per cent.

Presumably, a strong store design

concept is all the more important?

“In our case it really has been of

paramount importance,” he says.

“Our design teams, based in Porto and

in new markets.”

Correia and his team are also at a

very advanced stage in a number of

overseas territories, with a view to

commence, during H1 of 2010 and

they are also in negotiations to start

in four more countries.

“When we start in a new country we

are always looking at prime locations

as a priority,” says Correia, “the key

factors being the amount of traffic,

visibility and fashion retail environment.

Of course all the ‘hard issues’ are also

very important, such as accessibility;

competition environment;

demographics, including population

growth, and the costs involved, namely

premises rent and salaries.”

In Madrid, for example, Parfois has

two flagship stores on main streets –

Fuencarral and Goya high streets.

It is in the top shopping centres

and has recently completed an

agreement to open on perhaps

the most prestigious shopping

street, Preciados, by the end of 2009.

These very recent investments are

bringing extensive returns in terms of

sales, image and brand awareness for

other stores in the Spanish market, due

to a much higher brand visibility.

“Our ideal location will always to be

in high traffic locations, whether in

malls or streets and within a

fashionable retail environment,”

explains Correia. “This is true for any

kind of retail but when you’re selling

accessories it is even more so, because

customers do not look specifically for

it, but they pass by and are tempted.

The more traffic, the bigger are the

chances to be successfully

accepted by customers.”

The company continually adds

new product lines to its offer, a

very natural response to its

permanent concern over

customer demand. “A

good example is that in

the last 12 months there

has been a great

demand on scarves. We

Barcelona, are responsible for our

accessories style and we believe they

enable us to offer the best fashion for

money. We have totally revitalised our

store concept over the past 18 months

and the results are excellent in terms of

both image and sales growth, given

these difficult times for retail.

“Our focus is to offer edgy,

fashionable accessories supported by

consistent design. On top of this, we

manage to renew the store every week

with new styles and change visual

merchandising including the shop

windows. Another relevant factor is our

attention to customer care.”

These have proven to be the key

factors in encouraging customers to

return to the store again and again,

knowing they will find new shapes,

colours and designs for the price that

they are willing to pay.

“The job in hand now is to take

advantage of the structure of the

company and replicate the success that

we experience in a few markets to

many others, enabling to continue a

healthy turnover growth,” concludes

Correia. “I would like to invite retail

professionals who may be tempted by

our concept to contact us without

hesitation, as we are always willing to

discuss new ways of doing business

and new partnerships.”

NOVEMBER 2009 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL 17

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