Din to continue French Connection

Fashion retailer French Connection is to open in-store spa bars, which will offer products and services to help customers to relax after strenuous shopping trips.

Din Associates is developing concepts for the new bars, which are unlikely to be implemented until next year. Due to space restrictions, “They will be in stores which have enough room for them, such as Regents Street and Longacre [in London], Glasgow and Leeds,” says a French Connection spokeswoman.

The London design group has worked with French Connection for more than ten years and is responsible for developing all its store interiors and frontages worldwide.

In an extensive expansion programme, shops in Europe, the US and Australia are due to open during the next eight months.

Din Associates design director John Harvey says: “We are currently working on the first German store in Cologne which opens in spring 2000. There are three German sites in total. We are creating a shop in Slovenia, which opens in September, and three in Australia to open a month later. A Californian store also opens in October.”

There are 40 existing UK stores, with several more planned. “There are two on site – in Reading and Birmingham – which open in the next few weeks and a new Gatwick outlet opens in December. A further five UK stores are due to open by spring 2000,” adds Harvey.

Traditionally a clothing retailer, French Connection is also planning to venture into home furnishings ranges in the near future, according to reports.