Comment: When pubs meet retail
Many readers will know about my dual interests of retail and hospitality and it has therefore been very pleasing to find the increased blurring of the lines between the two sectors. The apogee of this has been the embrace by smart fashion brands of the humble pub.
The most recent example was the early December rebranding of The Exmouth Arms in London as The Kate Spade Arms. The premium US brand took over the pub to publicise its festive ready-to-wear range. The makeover of the property included a curated Kate Spade menu that incorporated branded crisps, along with speciality drinks, branded pub games, quizzes and workshops.
The decision to use the backdrop of a pub enabled the brand to align itself with something unique and quintessentially British as well as tapping into the all-embracing, inclusive nature of the pub that has diversity at its heart.
Matteo De Baroli Albricci, general manager for EMEAI at Kate Spade, says: “In introducing The Kate Spade Arms at an iconic London pub we celebrate the UK’s traditions and culture of community gathering and bring our brand to life in an unexpected and juxtaposed way this holiday season.”
The company also recognised the value in building deeper connections with its customers through interactive experiences. Kate Spade is not the only brand to target this objective through the pub and café. Burberry took over Norman’s Café in North London during London Fashion Week and also created a travelling Norman’s food truck that it parked up at various fashion-related events during the week long activities. More recently JW Anderson hosted a party at famed The Devonshire pub in Soho to launch its SS25 collaborative range produced with beer-of-the-moment Guinness.
This follows the early summer experiential activation by Tesco that took over The Castle pub in Clerkenwell and renamed it The King in the Castle. This was timed to coincide with the Coronation celebrations when the supermarket wanted to create a clever backdrop to launch its Coronation-themed range.
These products were all available to order off the bespoke menu and had visitors enjoying Coronation King Prawn Sandwiches and themed cupcakes as well as a Royal High Tea and the King’s rumoured favourite tipple a gin martini. Again the objective was to leverage the power of the pub to bring together people from all demographics and persuasions.
Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer at Tesco, says: “As one of the most enduring parts of British Culture, pubs have traditionally been an important part of local communities and so a pub felt like the perfect way to bring people together to mark this special occasion and enjoy delicious food.”
This initiative was followed by Uber taking over The Speaker pub in Westminster and temporarily rebranding it as the 55k Tonnes and using it as a platform to highlight the company’s sustainability activities. The name reflected the tonnes of air pollution that had been saved by its use of electric cars in London over the past three years. Visitors could purchase carbon-neutral beers, and enjoy a happy hour from 5:50pm when drinks cost £5.50.
Andrew Brem, UK general manager at Uber, says: “In the UK, pubs are where we exchange ideas and opinions and what better way to promote a dialogue on electrification in the UK than with a carbon-negative pub.”
All these initiatives highlight how hospitality and retail can work well together and there is no doubt that we will see further such activities in the future. The in-store café has become almost ubiquitous so it will be interesting to see how things develop and when we can maybe enjoy an in-store pub. The challenge has been put down. Until then, have a great Christmas and New Year – in stores and down the pub.
