TM Lewin is accelerating its return to the high street as a revival in formalwear drives demand for suits, shirts and ties.
The shirtmaker will open two new stores next month, in Victoria in central London and at Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, adding to five locations opened over the past 18 months.
The expansion comes after TM Lewin closed all 66 of its stores in 2020, - including in Aberdeen's Union Square - with the business now pursuing a smaller network of carefully selected shops alongside its online operation.
Managing director Dan Ferris said formalwear now accounts for around half of sales, while tie sales jumped 200% year-on-year over the summer.
“We’re close to a 50:50 split now on formal to casual products,” Ferris said.
“The [tie has] died about ten times now and then it keeps coming back.”
However, Ferris warned that high rents and business rates remained a barrier to further expansion.
“The rents are high already and then when you’ve got business rates on top of that, that’s a fixed cost that has to be factored into every store decision for us. It just means it’s a substantial cost for opening the doors of a shop before you’re even servicing customers.”