C&A wants to grow through smaller city centre stores

C&A has opened two stores in Amsterdam that follow its new city centre store concept: they are much smaller, focus on inspiration and specifically target women. 

Personal shopping

With a retail area of around 300 sqm, the stores are significantly smaller than a typical C&A store. “In these shops, there is more room for personal support and a more tailored service. Think personal shopping by appointment, or personalised offers for our local members”, Marketing Lead Stefanie Schneider says. “Moreover, we are moving away from the familiar shop presentation and are fully committed to inspiring our customers.”

The new concept plays an important role in C&A’s growth ambitions. After a period of closing outdated and oversized shops, the fashion chain now plans to open more than 100 new shops in Europe over the next three years. A large number of these will be city-centre shops. Customers want to be inspired and prefer smaller shops over giant five-storey buildings, the chain believes.

Under CEO Giny Boer, C&A embarked on a major modernisation exercise a good three years ago, upgrading its shops and collections, but also requiring the company to restructure repeatedly. With 1,300 shops in seventeen countries, the brand is still a leading European player.