Whistles started internationalisation by entry into France in December 2012; occupying a 350 square foot area within Printemps department store on Boulevard Haussmann, Paris, (Gilles, 2012). Then going on to open within a range of premium department stores; in 2013 in Berlin with KaDeWe, in Munich with Oberpollinger, in Hamburg with Karstadt and in Moscow with Podium and Tsvetnoy Market. (Wang, 2014)

 

The positioning within a department store is important, in order to gain a high footfall, allowing exposure to the brand. Being close to popular premium French brands, such Sandro and Maje, who can also be recognised as competitors, allows a steady flow of customers, crucial for sales. 

 

Whistles also supplemented its already established concession at Le Printemps in 2014, with Le BHV Marais this month and launched a French language website to capitalise on the demand for its collections. (Fashion United, 2014)

Europe create the perfect location for Whistles to begin internationalisation as it offered lower risk. Paris was a suitable starting point as it is so close to the UK and, at the time, had a near-identical level of national wealth, population, a similar climate, a stable economy and a love for fashion with no major cultural differences with the UK. (Bagehot, 2011). 

 

Berlin, Munich and Hamburg also offered low risk to Whistles as they allowed the brand to easily boarder hop from neighbouring France into territory which wasn’t too different to their usual markets. Whistles continued with their internationalisation into Europe by opening in De Bijenkorf department store in Amsterdam in November 2013. (Whistles, 2013)

 

Although the best time of year for opening a shop is usually considered to be from September or October, in preparation for the festive season, it could be that Whistles often opened new shops internationally within winter months as they had the advantage of opening within department stores. This would mean they didn’t necessarily need the extra time to get consumers to buy as the department stores already have a huge footfall and often Whistles products could be seen whilst browsing other similar brands.

 

After six stores opened across the UK and internationally in 2012, Whistles has reported a 26 per cent rise in like-for-like (LFL) sales in January 2013. (Retail Gazette, 2013) This shows the success of opening store internationally.