The Designer Room At The Lowry Outlet Mall

Where is it?
Ground Floor
The Lowry Outlet Mall
Salford Quays
M50 3AH

www.lowryoutletmall.com

The Designer Room?History
The Designer Room is a new fashion retailer for men and women which has recently opened in the Lowry Outlet Mall. The chain already boasts stores in Livingstone (Scotland), Sterling Mills (Scotland), Castleford, Clacton, West Bromwich, Stoke, Doncaster and Chatham. The new store promises to contribute to the Lowry Outlet Mall’s rise in sales in the ‘mixed fashion category’ with its collection of designer labels.

What does it sell?
Robert Hallworth, centre manager at the Lowry Outlet Mall, said: “The Designer Room has an impressive fashion offering; providing good quality items at value prices.”

Value Prices? Yes. Good quality items? No.

Think cheap clingy dresses, poorly knitted jumpers and jeans that will shrink upon first wash. Unfortunately it does not live up to its shop name as there were no real designer labels in sight.

I went to the store expecting to be greeted with labels such as French Connection but, instead, I was surrounded by what appeared to be cheap, market brands. Upon asking the manager what they sold, she appeared to be completely dumbfounded and could only describe types of clothes rather than the so-called designers.

No signageWho shops there?
It would appear that nobody shops there yet, as the few people who entered instantly walked back out without any discounted polyester in sight.

I actually give the shoppers credit for even bothering to walk into the Designer Room as it looks far from inviting with no obvious signage, employees stood around talking to each other among clothes which did not appear to be arranged in any particular order. It was odd.

What went wrong?

The state of the shop was so appalling that we decided to contact the area manager, Mandy Ansell to get the lowdown. She immediately apologised, saying: “We put a manager in there and we’ve had to get rid of him already and it’s caused a few problems. The new manager has only been there a couple of days so it’s all new to her.

“We’ve opened the store before the winter package of clothing has gone in, so what’s being sold in there at the moment is a filler to get the store open as we’re paying for the space. It’s not what we would normally sell at all.

"When the new stock arrives, mid-September, there should be discounted designers such as French Connection. So far sales have been ok. We took around £700 yesterday but the target is to take £10,000 per week once we’ve got all the correct stock in. “

We did the rudimentary maths. The average garment at the Designer Room costs £15. So, £10,000 worth works out at 666 garments per week - a devilishly difficult figure for a shop of this calibre, but time will tell.

Why shop there?
At the moment, if you are looking for a quick and cheap fix for a last minute holiday rather than a deep and fulfilling shopping experience, then it’s perfect for you. Prices range from £5- £20 and there are some maxi dresses and men’s checked shirts that look promising for a two week stint in the sunshine.

Unfortunately because of the rushed opening, the current range of clothing is limited with many items being repeated throughout the store. The footwear and accessories section is no more than a stand in the middle of the store, with an underwhelming choice of four pairs of shoes and two belts.

Future
It is of course early days and clearly the Designer Room has got off to a shaky start for a few different reasons - some unavoidable and others completely nonsensical.

The Lowry Outlet MallHaving only been open for a week there is already a sale rack which again according to Mandy isn’t ideal but had to be done. The lack of signage on the front of the store currently gives the impression that it isn’t going to be a permanent fixture to the Lowry Outlet Mall which isn't true. However Mandy did add that a sign was on its way. Better late than never but you can’t help but think it might have paid off to be patient.

Verdict
There is nothing designer about the Designer Room at the moment, from the clothes, to the layout and even the level of staffing. It might currently serve well as a bargain bin for the under 25s, but it isn’t unfortunately going to be a shopping destination for this city if it doesn’t improve soon.