Clarins and Lids open at Icon Outlet as the destination celebrates more milestones

Icon Outlet at The O2, London’s leading outlet shopping destination, is celebrating the achievement of three milestones, with its latest store launches, strong performance and the appointment of new leasing director, Louisa Dalgleish.

Leading the news is the opening of Clarins, the French cosmetics and beauty brand.  The 1,500 sq ft boutique stocks a wide range of the brand’s skincare and make up products for women and men.  Clarins joins Icon Outlet’s impressive fashion, beauty and accessories line-up, which also includes Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker and Calvin Klein. 

Also just opened is leading sports retailer, Lids. Lids’ 977 sq ft store features a vast assortment of major North American league team product from MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL, among others, as well as items from go-to brands including adidas, New Era Cap, ’47, Mitchell & Ness, Hurley, Oakley, Local Crowns, and more. The store will also feature Lids’ signature Custom Zone, which allows consumers the opportunity to custom embroider a hat or apparel piece of their choice in-store, including from the retailer’s numerous options of player numbers and autographs.

The opening of Clarins and Lids follows continued strong performance by Icon Outlet, with sales in October up 6% versus 2019.  For April to October as a whole, Icon Outlet’s sales were up 5% on a like-for-like basis compared to 2019.  The figures demonstrate Icon Outlet has bounced back very positively from the height of the pandemic, with the performance reinforced by a recent report by CACI.

According to their analysis, during May and July, Icon Outlet achieved 50% of its turnover from domestic tourism outside its principal catchment area, up from 25% before the pandemic.  CACI also found spend from customers in Icon Outlet’s immediate local catchment north and south of the Thames increased.  Visitors from areas such as Greenwich, Bexley, Lewisham, Newham, Barking and Dagenham contributed 50% of non-domestic tourism spend, up from 38% between August and December 2019.

Completing the trio of milestones, well-known name in the property industry, Louisa Dalgleish, has joined Icon Outlet as Leasing Director.  Formerly a director in Nash Bond’s Central London retail team, Louisa has over 14 years’ experience in the property sector and will build on Icon Outlet’s success in attracting leading UK and international brands to create a unique outlet offer in the capital. 

Mandy Chamberlain, Commercial Director of the Independent Division at Clarins, said: “We are delighted to have opened at Icon Outlet. Since re-opening in April they achieved some brilliant initiatives to ensure they remain a go to shopping destination, attracting engaged customers and creating a place in which we are confident the Clarins brand will thrive.” 

Louisa Dalgleish, Leasing Director at Icon Outlet, commented: “I join Icon Outlet at such an exciting time, as it is firmly established as a premium outlet shopping destination in London, as evidenced by the opening of Clarins and Lids.  Icon Outlet and The O2 offer a unique full day-out destination experience, with leading brands, interesting concepts and innovative experiences. 

“The combination is unique in the capital and is clearly resonating with Londoners and tourists alike, as the consistenly strong sales figures highlight.  This creates a great platform on which to build in 2022 and I am looking forward to working with the team to enhance Icon Outlet’s offer even further.”

Clarins is a family run French cosmetics company, founded by Jacques Court-Clarins in 1954. It is Europe’s number one luxury skincare brand and operates in over 150 countries. In addition to manufacturing skincare and beauty products, Clarins also offers spa treatments. Its ethos is driven by two principles, listening to women’s needs and a love of nature, which inspires their research into many of their plant based products. 

Lids Sports Group is the largest licensed sports retailer in North America, selling fan and fashion-oriented headwear and apparel across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico through almost 2,000 retail locations. Lids is the world’s largest retailer specializing in the sale of officially licensed and branded headwear with over 30 million hats sold annually.

Located just 15 minutes from Central London, The O2 is the world’s most popular music, entertainment, and leisure venue and is easily accessible via road, tube, bus or Uber Boat by Thames Clippers.   

CWM acted for Icon Outlet. Clarins and Lids dealt direct.