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Fast-growing Belgian fashion label Caroline Biss has outgrown the Benelux region and will therefore open a store in Düsseldorf on 24 September and a second store in Cologne next year.
Ready for the next step
Ever since the crisis year 2008, Caroline Biss managed a 70 % growth (nearly 10 % annually), according to Bart Saelen, who is in charge of the company alongside his wife Ann-Christine Bouckaert. 2015’s consolidated company turnover reached 38.7 million euro and “proves we have a strong product. Now we are ready for a new story because we have reached the limits of our Benelux growth potential.”
The move towards Germany is a very reasonable choice: the country still has plenty of purchasing power and the cultural differences with the Benelux are minimal. Düsseldorf is also Germany’s fashion capital, with a very strong store nucleus. “We have found a beautiful 200 sqm store, with an 11 meters wide front, located in the Grabenstrasse. Our neighbours will be Hugo Boss, MarcCain, Dorothee Schumacher and Floris van Bommel, which I appreciate because good neighbours can reinforce each other. Our store in Cologne will be a 160 sqm store in the Mittelstrasse.”
Clear brand identity
Caroline Biss’ success is thanks to its clear brand identity, Saelen feels. “You need a powerful formula in the fashion industry and you have to be true to yourself. We consciously focus on a clearly defined audience: young-spirited ladies older than 35 who want to look good each and every time, even though they may not have a size 36. We fix that problem. Our customers can basically buy anything they desire from our store, they will always get compliments about their clothes wherever they go.”
The brand’s collections are available in multibrand stores across the Benelux and several other countries, but it also has an online store and its own store network, focused on the major cities: 15 in Belgium, 9 in the Netherlands and 2 in Luxembourg. Caroline Biss will not expand any further in Belgium, “unless one of our major multibrand customers disappears. In the Netherlands, we are still trying to cover several areas, like in Breda.”
