Michelle Mone, the bra entrepreneur, is pressing ahead with expansion following a strong increase in sales of ranges such as the gel-filled Ultimo despite tough times for some lingerie retailers.
Michelle Mone, the bra entrepreneur, is pressing ahead with expansion following a strong increase in sales of ranges such as the gel-filled Ultimo despite tough times for some lingerie retailers.
Mone will signal her confidence in her company's prospects by opening her second London outlet today in the vast new Westfield Centre in London.
Billed as the biggest mall in Europe, Westfield is seen as vulnerable to a sustained downturn in consumer spending.
However, Mone said she had no hesitation about opening in the centre. The new outlet is the 16th in a series of "shop-in-shop" outlets which Mone has opened within partitioned areas of Debenhams stores since last November.
Mone's MJM International plans to open another four such outlets by the end of January.
"We are still sticking to our business plan. The shops are doing really well, they are performing over plan," said Mone.
A spokeswoman said the first London outlet, in Debenhams on Oxford Street, has been a roaring success.
Mone believes MJM could be benefiting from the fact that it sells proprietary inventions like the Ultimo range, which women cannot buy in other shops. The company recently launched three new products designed for "large-cupped" women.
"We are not cutting any of our prices," she told The Herald.
Mone said the successful introduction of the Debenhams outlets had not affected sales of the company's products online.
The company is on course to achieve record profits and turnover in the year to April.
By contrast, Mone said she had recently been approached by people who were seeking offers for two lingerie businesses.
Mone has also been approached by retailers in the US that wanted her to open outlets in their stores.
However, she said she wanted to focus on the UK. The company is preparing to launch a range of Miss Ultimo bras targeted at 16-to-24 year-olds. These would be sold for less than existing ranges, putting them in the same price bracket as volume chains.
MJM may open more Ultimo outlets in Debenhams in the next financial year but Mone said it was too early to make a decision.
She noted that the com-pany had been able to fund its recent expansion out of operating cashflow.
"We are cash-rich at the moment, which is a nice position to be in," Mone said.
Earlier this year, Mone and her husband Michael gained full control of her company MJM International after retail tycoon Sir Tom Hunter and Arcadia's chief operating officer, Ian Grabiner, sold out. According to reports, Hunter received £640,000 for his 80% holding of the company's B' shares, while Grabiner got £160,000 for the remaining 20%.
Hunter was reported to have made a healthy return on his investment.
"It has been an expensive year for us, but a good one," Mone told The Herald yesterday.
