Holly HY / 06 May 2025 / Categories: Shops, Clothing

Flannels Luxury Store Bank Holiday

Is this the end of luxury shopping?

I read in the Evening Standard this weekend how Westminster council have vowed to clean up Oxford St, London and rid it of the Charlatan traders selling counterfeit and illegal goods.

There was a 20% off bank holiday sale at Flannels this weekend in the past also accused of selling counterfeit designer goods which I decided to check out. I wanted to buy a Chanel nail polish, Le Vernis, ete Indien, 163 (Indian Summer) a gorgeous tomato red as the time has come for sandals, slides and a pedicure is much needed after the winter before that can happen.

We went quite early, around 11.30am Fosse Park was absolutely packed already but I was surprised to find Flannels not busy at all. In fact it was eerily quiet.

The store is new, well relatively and on three levels, make up and beauty on the ground floor, the restaurant has closed and they now serve coffee and cakes where the restaurant Cafe Clo used to be.

They only had one customer.

The second floor is menswear, the third floor women’s wear and kids.

It was great to have the place to ourselves, like they’d closed just for us but it did get me questioning why was the shopping mall packed full, sports direct next door was heaving yet this shop, like a ghost town.

It did get me thinking are the days of spending outrageous sums of money on designer clobber over?

I have to say as I browsed the offering in the womenswear section it felt disjointed. They have a lot of lovely brands and some new to me but the pieces from the collections the buyers have chosen are quite over sized and masculine, I’d say urban. There are a lot of big baggy sweat shirts and sweat pants, not much in the way of more feminine athleisurewear.

My friend did buy a pair of Stella McCartney sneakers for what seemed like an OK deal, around £80 and a Mac lipliner, that was it.

I didn’t buy anything. The Chanel nail polish was out of stock. The lady on the counter was amazing and very knowledgeable about her range. She explained they had been having stock issues for some time. She said she didn’t know why but things just weren’t coming in.

I don’t know if it’s the economy, the offering or the prices. It should have been busy, everywhere else was.

If it was my shop on a bank holiday Monday with a 20% off sale I’d be wondering what I needed to change to get people through the door.

It’s a shame as it’s a very nice building, a great retail space with loads of potential to do something exciting and experiential, a fashion event maybe to bring people back in store.

I don’t really like shopping for clothes online, it’s not the same experience, I don’t necessarily need to try things on unless it’s lingerie but I go like to feel fabric, check labels, see where things are made and I prefer the social experience.

I am not sure shops will survive if the no customers thing continues. I can home and bought a skirt from free people online instead as a bank holiday treat.

Hope I don’t have to send it back.