Aquascutum Report

The entrance to the Aquascutum flagship store is very grand and is in a prime location on Regent Street opposite one of its main rivals, Burberry.

The main doors leading into Aquascutum are automatic giving an instant feeling of luxury. My immediate response when entering the shop was that the visual merchandising wasn’t very strong but perhaps this is to target an older market with simpler tastes. The interior is mainly wooden with a few glass tables displaying gloves and scarves.

The shop assistants looked incredible smart in suits and were surprisingly inviting as I walked through the shop floor. There was no music playing on my visit to the shop, this again maybe to appeal to an older market.

The clothes were displayed in low stock densities, approximately 4 of the same items per rail, however with the more avant-garde pieces there were only one or two of the same garment on a rail, the low stock density makes the garments appear more desirable.
There were more coats and trench coats in the store than any other garment and
the hangers were wooden with the Aquascutum logo printed in the centre.



Aquascutum, Womens wear, London, Autumn / Winter, 2009

The ground floor was women’s wear, it was large but an unusual shape, the shop seamed to fork from the main floor into two separate areas. The first of the forked areas was overflowing with floor length trench coats in any imaginable colour. The second was similar to the main floor displaying jackets and trousers for an older female market.

The changing rooms were located in the centre of the forks. On the ground floor there were 4 changing rooms, each one had a cream carpet. The doors were wooden and tall with gold handles. Each changing room was like a small room in itself!
Outside the dressing rooms was a small table with coffee cups and champagne glass which I assume are for the higher paying customers to lure them in to spending more!



Aquascutum, Mens Wear, London, Autumn /Winter, 2009

Floor 1 and 2 are both for men’s wear. The wooden, sophisticated layout is similar to the ground floor.

Whilst wondering around the store I couldn’t find any garments for less than £250. I didn’t see a flowing colour palette throughout the store; this may have been because a lot of their products are staple pieces that rarely change from season to season.

Aquascutum provide an in store personal tailoring service. A personally tailored, two piece tailored suit, starts from £700. This service takes 5-6 weeks from the date of the first appointment, to be completed.

I visited the shop on a Thursday afternoon. There were three women and myself in the store. The women were all 50+, two of the women were being personally fitted for suit jackets at the time.



Aquascutum's Cochester factory,1969