Asking price: £550,000

Sales revenue: £1,100,000

Net profit: Undisclosed

Fixtures value: Undisclosed

Stock value: Undisclosed

Business description
High Quality Department Store & Spa

Specialising in Hair, Skincare, Cosmetics, Fragrance, Lingerie & Ladies Fashion Accessories

This historical and well established department store has been part of the fabric of Lancaster for over 46 years and in that time it has developed into a truly wonderful destination store for the city. With its high profile location in the High Street and distinctive character property appearance the business draws in visitors from near and afar with many customers travelling significant distance to visit such is the quality and range of the offerings and agencies in store. The owner has spent a great deal of time effort and resource on the design, fitting and branding of this ladies department store to ensure that shopping is a thoroughly enjoyable leisure experience.

Not only does this retailer have many highly valued and exclusive agencies, many of which are not available in other establishments within the region, the store presents its wares in such a way that they all complement each other beautifully.

This boutique is situated over 5 floors(basement and top floor are currently used for stock, staff facilities and storage) and is split into the following core revenues centres:

Skincare.

The team of highly trained skincare specialists help customers identify their skin type and provide offerings from a wide choice of the leading ranges including Clarins, Christian Dior, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Darphin and Lancôme.

Cosmetics

This is the major revenue stream within the business. The store has a huge range of cosmetics in stock and can boast in excess of 1000 shades of lip, eye and cheek colours. Again specialist staff are on had to advise clients on products and applications from the very best brands including Clinique, Clarins, Dior, Estee Lauder, Darphin and Lancôme. As part of this the store provides a “Make Up” service to customers.

Fragrance

Again the store has gone to great lengths to secure the very best ranges and agencies from the leading suppliers to ensure they have the right choice for every occasion. Fragrances include Angel, Aramis, Armani, Chanel, Clarins, Clinique, Dior, Escada, Floris, J.P. Gaultier, Gucci, Kenzo, Tommy Hilfiger, Lancôme, Estée Lauder, Ralph Lauren, Sonia Rykiel, Issey Miyake, MaxMara, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, Donna Karan, Anna Sui, Lanvin, Paul Smith, Davidoff, Ghost, Joop, Lolita Lempicka, Mont Blanc and J Lo to name but a few.

Fashion Accessories & Hosiery

As you would expect the business also has the latest in fashion accessories. From must-have bags, stunning jewellery, sunglasses, gloves, the store are constantly updating their ranges to make sure that customers return to find something new and exciting, giving designer style and quality.

Ranges include Radley, Guess, Ollie and Nic, Tula, Dents, Suzy Smith, Espree, Passigatti, Ri2K, Adax and Wolford. The store also has an array of beautiful classics including mirrors, manicure sets perfume bottles and watches, also umbrellas which prove to be very popular giftware items.

Lingerie, Nightwear & Swimwear

Beautiful lingerie makes every woman look and feel fantastic. The lingerie room provides an intimate and discreet environment for choosing and trying new pieces. The store has everything from comfortable classic lines, and seamless second skin ranges to seductive special occasion selections. It offers a fitting service and specialises in beautiful styles for sizes D cup and above. Again only the best quality ranges are represented including Lise Charmel , Lejaby, Fantasie, Simone Peréle, Playtex and Elle Macpherson.

The same can be said of both swimwear and nightwear with fabulous ranges from Fantasie, Freya, Rasurel, Elle, Luna di Seta and Marjolaine.

Clarins Studio & Skin Spa

This leading in-house studio and spa is a real benefit for the business and is an excellent magnet for the core female clientele of this store. The studio offers a very diverse range of treatments including manicures, pedicures, waxing, electrolysis, facials, scrubs, massage and wraps.

Hair

Rather uniquely, the hair studio has two different styling teams who share the same aim - of creating a cut that is as individual as their clients. Their expertise comes from dedication to training. As members of the Schwarzkopf professional hairdressing club, even the most senior stylists undergo continuous training to ensure that they can bring customers the very latest fashion trends through innovative styling, cutting and colouring.

The studio works with the very best haircare products including Schwarzkopf, Redken, Wella, Paul Mitchell, System Professional and GHD and the stylists are trained to offer treatment recommendations to ensure that hair is looked after in the best possible way.

The Hair Studio- Beautiful hair needs an expert to maintain it. Senior stylists provide clients with the very highest standards in hair and colour creation, and the ultimate in customer service.

Young Style Team- Having demonstrated promising talent and skill, the stylists in the young style team are the most recently qualified members of staff. These future hairdressing stars are able to offer affordable prices without compromising on quality service and product expertise.

Equipment:

The business has a comprehensive EPOS system with stock control and valuation programs. All fixtures and fittings including displays are of the highest quality and in excellent condition.

Customer Service:

The exceptionally high levels of customer service are best demonstrated by the brands this retailer promotes. Many of the concessions are extremely sought after and only the best retailers can boast them. This is further reflected in the very high levels of repeat business and referrals the business enjoys. Personal service is the key. Most customers stay loyal to this destination outlet whether they be local or visitors, such is the quality of its all round offering including postal service.

The business is also a member of The Cosmetics & Perfumery Retailers Association and The National Hairdressers Federation.

Key Strengths:

There are no other retailers of a similar nature or size in the area. In fact there are very few in the region who would be able to offer such a high quality environment and product range making this a truly wonderful shopping experience. This together with the excellent reputation, knowledgeable and friendly staff and levels of service sets this business apart. Other key strengths include:

• Agency agreements
• Generations of loyal customers
• Quality of staff and management team
• Depth of Supply
• Brands
• Buying Power
• Beautifully presented premises
• Location

Financial Information:

The business is being offered for sale on a going concern basis, all financial discussions will take place directly between the vendor and all interested parties under the auspices of Turner Butler.

The business consistently achieves turnover in excess of £1.1Million per annum. Current stock holding is circa £300,000.

Employees: The vendor has not been able to give the business 100% of his focus over the last few years due to family health issues hence the sale. In saying that the business does have an excellent management team in place . Each business centre has its own management team leader. These team leaders are highly trained, experienced and loyal and are supported by very well trained colleagues. The business employs circa 40 staff in total , three quarters of whom are full time). The staff are a real asset of the business, many of whom have been with the business for many years.

Trading hours: Monday-Friday 0900-1730 Saturday 0830-1700 Sunday: Closed except Christmas period

Property: Freehold

Location
The premises are ideally located on the main thoroughfare in the city and are highly visible from the road and consist of two adjacent properties. The buildings are listed and as such are full of character and in an excellent state of repair. There is plenty of customer parking close by. Total current prime retail space is circa 4000 square feet split over 3 floors In addition to this there is the basement floor currently used for storage and staff rooms (circa 450 square feet) together with the top floor which is also used for storage (circa 450 square feet). Total Square Footage circa 4,900.

The vendor is happy to negotiate a suitable lease for a new owner. Alternatively they may consider selling the freehold should a new owner so require. Freehold value is circa £900,000. Rates payable are circa £9,500 p.a.

Expansion potential
Such is the reputation this business enjoys there is no reason why the “brand” could not be developed further. Furthermore there is no reason why the product range could not be expanded to cater for more areas of the traditional department store sector. The business has not really addressed e-commerce opportunities to date. This is a massive growth opportunity as is the proper development of the business’s customer database. The business could also benefit from further investment in I.T. particularly on the accounting and payroll functions.

Competition / Market
The business advertises in the quality lifestyle magazines including Lancashire Life and has in the past undertaken some radio and local press advertising. It also has an informative website and brochure. As part of this the business also runs a loyalty card scheme and gift vouchers which are immensely popular.

Support & training
The current owners would be happy to provide full training and support at handover.