A reinvigorated buying team and the refurbishment of its flagship store’s ground floor are set to give Beales a new lease of life. ZABIAN SOUTHWOOD visited the Bournemouth HQ to discover how these changes are set to broaden its loyal customer base.

Beales department stores had a lot to celebrate last year. In addition to turning a respectable 125, the company overhauled its buying policy, revamped the ground floor of its Bournemouth branch with a view to rolling out the concept to further branches, and opened a new store in Horsham, West Sussex, while increasing its profit before tax to £2.01m. This year, it will be refurbishing its entire Poole branch, and is on the lookout for further acquisitions as it reaffirms itself as a key player in the branded market.

But why the need for change? “Beales has always been known as a good, middle-of-the road department store group with a very loyal customer base,” says director of buying and merchandising Barbara King, who joined in October 2005. “So my role has been to up its profile and make it a group to be reckoned with in terms of its products and service.” Part of the store group’s revival has been the shake-up of its buying team, which was deemed necessary to introduce a different outlook and more varied experience.

King, who held the position of buying and marketing director at Jenners in Edinburgh prior to its sale to House of Fraser in April 2005, brought some of her old team with her, including lingerie buyer Kevin O’Neill, accessories buyer Vicki Wright and womenswear buyer Marianne Lindsay. And, along with some of the existing buyers, they have scrutinised the product offer and “have shed, as well as grown”.

Director of buying Jo Sotherton, who oversees lingerie, womenswear, menswear, cosmetics, hairdressing and catering, feels the new team has brought fresh eyes and new blood to what had been a comfortable set-up. “There’s been a real cross-fertilisation on the buying team, and now we’ve got a really good balance between established members with years of knowledge, and new buyers with fresh ideas and energy. It’s made a huge difference, and there’s now a lot of synergy right across the board.”

The main aim is to broaden Beales’ appeal to a new, younger customer and move the hardcore regular clientele on, rather than alienate them. “We have a really strong account base, so the key thing was to try not to change too much but take our customers along with us,” explains King. “The new brands we’ve introduced are bringing in different customers with a younger attitude, and by widening the offer we’re becoming a much more credible store.”

However, a 4.3% drop in like for- like sales for the 13 weeks to 13 January shows it may take time for customers to fully adapt. But there are grounds for optimism. Beales’ Bournemouth flagship has seen a £1m refurbishment of its ground floor beauty and accessories department. As well as bringing in brands exclusive to the area, such as Crème de la Mer, Benefit and Prescriptives, and a new type of shopper, the revamp has also gone down well. “We’ve had women of all ages sitting in the Mac chair having their make-overs,” adds King.

The lingerie department on the flagship store’s second floor has yet to undergo a refurbishment, but many changes can be seen in the brand mix across all 12 branches. Lingerie buyer Kevin O’Neill joined 16 months ago, and during his time has introduced Ted Baker Intimates into four stores and Elle Macpherson Intimates into six, with the supermodel’s exclusive range Boudoir arriving shortly.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying working for Beales and have found it very challenging meeting the varied needs of 12 different demographics and discovering all about the local quirks. Some stores do very well with classic nightwear for instance, while others are more successful with gift and glamour pieces.”

In an attempt to attract a new type of customer, the ranges have been split into different sections – Classic, Contemporary, Young, Gift and Glamour – to create more of a boutique environment. O’Neill always does his buying with the aim of “taking the confusion out of merchandising” to make the sales assistants’ job easier, and co-ordinates the lingerie with the swimwear, nightwear and hosiery as much as possible.

The demand for classic styles is big business at Beales, and these are updated with plenty of colour, while a well-respected mastectomy fitting service is available in Bournemouth where ex breast care nurse Val White has a good reputation. One of O’Neill’s key concerns is maintaining a reasonable price structure, while fulfilling other criteria, such as covering a broad age range.

“We cover a price range of £15 to £235 and have to be competitive on price point as some department stores offer own-label,” he says. “However, we’re very particular about quality, handle and finish, so tend to work with nightwear brands such as Silk Cocoon and Repose.”

Having spent the past few seasons experimenting with a few new brands, the target for 2007 is to consolidate and strengthen those brands Beales already deals with.

“We have to be more proactive where we don’t have private label, but don’t see the brand mix hugely changing. However, it’s exciting to be part of Beales, as we are at a point where we’re looking to open more stores, and I’m learning something new every day.”

The latest addition to the Beales portfolio was unveiled in August when the Horsham branch opened up, while the next store to receive a facelift will be Poole this spring, coinciding with a major revamp for the entire town. Other plans include overhauling the entire IT network and changing the marketing strategy to reflect where the group is now heading without alienating its core customer.

“We’re mindful of not upsetting our customers, and are striving to have a good breadth of value brands coupled with good service.” The search is currently on for additional stores in locations that complement its target customer according to King. “Our strength is our niche market, so we’d like to have a total of 20 stores in the next few years if locations are right. These won’t necessarily be in big cities, but we’ll be targeting good coastal and market towns where we have an A, B and sometimes C1 customer, or in good, convenient locations such as Bolton. Most stores have a similar core product base, which is then altered according to the local nature of the market, but each needs to be small enough to cater for the individual customer.”