Manchester has long-been associated with street-driven menswear. In the 90’s, Tony Wilson’s Factory Records and Haçienda venue were as much about the look as the music.
What could is more fitting for a company like End open a flagship store in Manchester’s high-end St Mary’s Gate fashion quadrant, already home to Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Paul Smith. End Clothing has already established itself in Newcastle, Glasgow and London – and Manchester was always on the brand’s radar.
CEO Parker Gundersen has a panoramic vision for the brand. “Manchester has been high on our list for a long time.” says Gundersen. “We have a very strong community here already who have been asking us to build a physical store for many years. When we finally found this building, we knew we had an amazing space that would allow us to create a concept that would match the high expectations of both our customers and brand partners. To finally see the finished product has been really thrilling for our team and I’m so proud of what they have achieved.”
the end game – going beyond clothes
End not only features premium brands associated with a strong street-style vibe, but plans a series of presentations – talks – as part of a visionary, community engagement programme. All this is a genuine endeavour to create an engagement with End and its brand partners, building a long-term relationship and to spread the word for the company.
architecture as a shopping experience
Any local at all connected to the Manchester fashion scene will tell you about the Northern Quarter District and of course, Affleck’s Palace, a somewhat decayed relic of the old Affleck & Brown department store, later home to the clothes and music of the Factory era. But End is about as far removed you can get to this. End’s building is a breathtaking mountain range of polished stone, glass and post-industrial, almost Bauhaus-Berlin like design, yet unmistakeably English. Clearly this was never going to be about some warehouse made real with some partitioning and exposed air ducts.
some of End St Mary’s Gate’s interior features…
Something Parker said resonated strongly with me. I love the experience of shopping – the physical element of touching and breathing in the ambience of a location. That’s something no amount of online or AI can currently give the shopper.
I feel our greatest strength though is ultimately the quality of our team – they’re some of the most authentic, passionate and friendly people in the industry. That cultural piece can be hard to express in an online environment which is why our team puts so much energy into making the physical experience so special and bringing the store to life with unique activations, our Talks series and other community engagement programmes.”
Parker Gundersen, CEO, End.
an elevating piece de resistance
No trip to End would be complete without checking out one particular feature. You have got to ride the elevator. Its a scenic glass elevator wrapped in a wide bespoke marble staircase. This gives you a breathtaking view of the End store experience. I began work in Manchester a long time ago and can honestly say, I’ve never seen a store like it.
more to come
End has a lot more to come. There will be a dedicated women’s concept store in Newcastle before the end of 2022 along with a new store opening in Milan.
Looks like we’ve not heard the end of high street retail concept stores.
