Peacocks (clothing)
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| Industry | Fashion |
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| Founded | Warrington, England (1884) |
| Headquarters | Cardiff, Wales |
| Number of locations | 388 + |
| Area served | United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe and Middle East. |
| Employees | 6,000 |
| Parent | Edinburgh Woollen Mill |
| Website | Peacocks.co.uk |
Peacocks, is a fast fashion retailer based in Cardiff, Wales. The chain is owned by The Peacock Group plc and employs over 6,000 people. There are currently over 600 Peacocks stores in the United Kingdom and more than 200 in 12 overseas countries. Over the years, Peacocks has been re-branded to a value-fashion selling store, as opposed to selling homeware and basic clothing.
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[edit] History
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[edit] Peacocks Penny Bazaar
Peacocks was founded in Warrington in 1884 as a family-run business selling a wide range of cheap goods.
Over the years, Peacocks Penny Bazaar expanded, opened more stores and the ranges available changed to keep up with the times. It was kept a family business being handed down from father to son through generations of the Peacocks family.
[edit] Relocation and expansion
In the 1940s, the company relocated to Cardiff, where its headquarters remain. This move had a profound effect on the development of the group; its growing network was concentrated in south Wales and southern England for many years. In the early 1990s, Peacocks grew further and in December 1999 the firm was floated on the London Stock Exchange.
[edit] 2005: Management buyout
In 2005, a £400M management buyout led by Richard Kirk was agreed, supported arranged by echelon capital and supported by by Goldman Sachs and hedge funds including Och-Ziff and Perry Capital that own 55% of the new holding company.[1] The company delisted from the exchange on 1 February 2006, again becoming privately owned.
In line with the increased demand for value-for-money fashion, Peacocks began to provide high fashion womenswear, menswear and childrenswear. High street stores have been revamped together with a steer towards prime locations.
It was confirmed on 24th May 2011, that Allan Leighton had been appointed as the new chairman of Peacocks, to renegotiate the companies debt holdings.[2]
On January 16th 2012 Peacocks confirmed it has planned to enter Administration putting up to 10,000 jobs at risk. Supporters of Peacocks are attempting to gain publicity for the cause through social media on Facebook [3] and Twitter [4]
[edit] 2012: Administration
On 18th January 2012, KMPG were appointed administrators to Peacocks.[5]. On 19th January 2012, 250 of head office staff were made redundant.
On 22nd February 2012, it was annouced the Pecocks had been sold to Edinburgh Woollen Mill. EWM have purchased the Peacocks Brand, 388 Stores, concessions, the headquarters and logistics functions in Wales. 224 stores were not sold to EWM, resulting in 3,100 immidiate job losses.[6][7]
[edit] Brands
In June 2011, Peacocks started to implement their own "Peacocks" brand on menswear clothing using a signature logo, and this now sets to follow with all departments across store.
[edit] Pearl Lowe
Pearl Lowe designs "exclusive" ranges for Peacocks, and her "Black Dress" was the fastest selling product on the High Street in Autumn/Winter 2010, worn by celebrities including Holly Willoughby, Natalie Imbruglia, and Courtney Love.[8] In January 2011, Daisy Lowe, daughter of Pearl, confirmed that she is now designing swimwear for Spring/Summer 2011.[9] In April 2011, Peacocks launched its own Botique range which has received critical acclaim. In June 2011, an online-exclusive label hit menswear - D-STRUCT.
[edit] Peacocks London
Branded as Peacocks London, Peacocks has more than 200 franchise stores outside of the United Kingdom in Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Gibraltar, Greece, Kuwait, Malta, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates. Peacocks London is growing rapidly and more stores are currently in development.
[edit] Bonmarché
The Peacock Group acquired Bonmarché in 2002[1] - UK's largest retailer selling cheap womenswear in a wide range of sizes, especially plus size clothing, to women over 45 years. The clothing retailer was originally founded in 1982 and now has over 380 stores nationwide, employing over 4,000 people. In March 2011, it was reported that Peacocks are looking to sell Bonmarché and are currently looking for a buyer.
ON 23rd Januray 2012 Bonmarche was sold to Sun European Partners in a pre-pack deal for an un-disclosed sum.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Marlow, Ben; Davey, Jenny (2010-05-16). "Peacocks in secret £600m sale". London: The Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article7127668.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
- ^ http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/24202-peacocks-hires-exasda-ceo-as-new-chairman
- ^ http://www.facebook.com/savepeacocks
- ^ https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23savepeacocks
- ^ http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16151906
- ^ "Peacocks' HQ saved in buyout deal but 3,000 jobs lost". 22 February 2012. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/02/22/peacocks-hq-saved-in-buyout-deal-but-3-000-jobs-lost-91466-30384291/.
- ^ "Peacocks takeover: Edinburgh Woollen Mill buy retailer but 3,100 jobs lost - Scroll down for store closures". 22 February 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17128141.
- ^ Hull, Liz (25 October 2010). "Cheap and chic: The £35 Peacocks dress celebrities are 'desperate' to get their hands on". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1323608/The-35-Peacocks-dress-created-Pearl-Lowe-celebrities-desperate-for.html.
- ^ Rawi, Maysa (17 January 2011). "Anything mum can do: Daisy Lowe follows in Pearl's footsteps to design vintage-style swimwear collection for Peacocks". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1347924/Anything-mum-Daisy-Lowe-follows-Pearls-footsteps-design-vintage-style-swimwear-collection-Peacocks.html.
