Briscoe moves upmarket with new Loft

A window display at the new Urban Loft store. Picture / Babiche Martens

Briscoe Group opened its first Urban Loft store in central Auckland last night, the start of what it hopes will be a chain of middle and upmarket homewear stores.

The 1000sq m outlet is one of the first new retailers drawn to the Britomart development.

Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke said that while Briscoe Homewear with 60 stores was aimed at the mass market, the new stores would target midmarket homewear retailers such as Stevens and Living and Giving as well as upper midmarket department stores. It would focus on women aged 20-50 looking for homeware gifts and "life's little luxuries".

Duke said he was testing the concept before Christmas but intended expanding to what he thought was an optimum of 10 stores of 1500sq m.

Stores were likely to be in central business areas and he thought the idea could capture 10 per cent of the upper market in four to five years. Urban Loft would be able to use Briscoe's relationships to source goods.

Briscoe shares closed up 1c at $1.67 yesterday.