Pre-owned luxury specialist retailer, Xupes, has announced that it will be opening its first physical retail store in the UK in November.
The shop will be based in the City of London by the Royal Exchange, which happens to be where rival second-hand specialists Watchfinder also has its own store. Unlike Watchfinder, Xupes’ offering also includes pre-owned handbags, jewellery and art.
Xupes has appointed design agency Formroom to make the store experience as positive as possible, including bringing as much of its digital customer experience into the shop as possible.
“The aim is to create an interactive and immersive customer experience which showcases our online origins and encourages clients to transition from the world of digital to real-time whilst encapsulating our personal, unique service,” the company’s co-founder Joseph McKenzie said.
Although Xupes has been an online-only platform in the 10 years since McKenzie and his brother founded the company, it has always attracted a lot of customers to its Hertfordshire showroom, which shows to McKenzie the importance of a physical presence. “It is the nature of the items we sell, and our aim is to offer service and quality, instilling confidence in our authentication and guarantees we offer. Once customers have found us online, and then visit us in person, they really understand what we are trying to achieve,” he explains.
“We are extremely excited to be launching our first retail space in the UK in such a prominent location and amongst some of the world’s most exclusive brands, which we actually stock ourselves. Buying pre-owned not only makes financial sense for customers, but also provides access to vintage and classic designs that aren’t available from retailers any more. Add in the sustainability factor and we think it’s a proposition that really resonates with a lot of people,” McKenzie concluded.
