Store: COW

Est: 2006

Branches:

Manchester

Unit C1, City Tower, Parker Street, Piccadilly Gardens, M1 4AH

Nottingham

2A George Street, NG1 3BE

Sheffield

156-160 West Street, S1 4ES

Birmingham

82-85 Digbeth High Street, B5 6DY

Category: Vintage: menswear, women’s wear, accessories, footwear.



Brands: Own reworked vintage items, plus vintage Wrangler, Levi and others. Prices vary hugely because of the different brands that are available. Jackets range from £20 to £200, tshirts, shorts and skirts start at around
£6 and dresses and sweater prices begin at around £12.

Website: www.wearecow.com

Manchester’s COW has only been open for two years, but in that time it has become one of the foremost vintage stores within the city and now holds the hub for the company’s online expansion, now providing an online store for
its customers.



The concept of COW and its vintage and ‘re-worked’ products arrived at a crucial point of social and economic upheaval that has increasingly encouraged a culture of re-use and recycling in all aspects. The first COW store opened in Birmingham’s Digbeth in 2006, placed slightly off the beaten track of the iconic Bullring Centre, but at the heart of Birmingham’s cultural quarter. In contrast, Manchester’s COW lies in the heart of the city centre, a location which benefits from a high level footfall, aided by being placed directly between Piccadilly station and Manchester Arndale.



The identity of COW is unlike most other vintage stores, COW manager Joanna Tricker explains, the aim of COW is to ‘bring vintage to the highstreet,’ bridging the gap between large chains and the backstreet vintage, the like of which can be found in the Northern Quarter. The price of clothing in COW reflects this liminal status, being at once good quality, original and affordable. The store layouts are designed to enable the easiest and most enjoyable shopping experience for all customers, and as such clothing is organised not merely by gender, but by item (dresses, jumpers, shorts etc.) and even colour.



COW source the majority of their stock from suppliers in the USA, but also Germany and Italy. Although all four stores receive stock from the same suppliers, chosen by the owners, every store’s identity and output is slightly different. This is due, in part, to provide clothing fitting to the different identities of each city, but also because a lot of the garments found in the COW stores are ‘re-worked’. Each store has their own seamstress/designer who alters the clothing, ‘to make it more modern’ as Joanna Tricker explains ‘shortening a dress can just bring it up to date’.



The rising profile of COW has lead to expansion to on online store that finally went live in late 2011. This greater online presence has boosted sales in store.



COW seems to have perfectly filled a gap left in the market, somewhere between the average highstreet store and the depths of an enigmatic vintage boutique. The flexibility and range of vintage clothing means that the demographic is not limited to the 16-24 target bracket, but to all age groups. COW do focus their branding and events towards this age, particularly evident in ‘lock-ins’ that occur around once per semester offering discount to students, however, the sheer variety of clothing and the pleasant shopping experience that is provided in every one of the four COW stores ensures that not only will anyone of any age come in, but also that everyone will come back.



Words and images by Lorna Greville.

If you liked this article, you may also like ...Store In Focus: Pandora, Manchester Arndale

Let us know what you think about this article by joining us on Twitter, direct your tweets to @TheFashionNetUK

Recent comments...

You must be registered and logged in to post a comment.

All comments submitted on this page do not express the views of MFN, we will endeavor to remove any offensive, rude, defamatory comments.