Hallensteins tests the numbers with fresh format

The name for the Hallensteins Queen St store, Eighteen73, is based on the year in which the company was founded. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Hallenstein Glasson is tailoring its Hallensteins stores to central city shoppers, testing the new Eighteen73 format at its Queen St store in central Auckland.

"We do not run our standard casual range but focus on fashion and streetwear and including businesswear," said general manager Jamie Whiting, appointed in February.

"Eighteen73 takes some of the fashion end of the Hallensteins range with a greater focus on tailoring."

Whiting said Hallensteins might expand the Eighteen73 format - named after the firm's founding year - to other cities.

Its target customer was more upmarket than the Hallensteins range but not as high as the Glassons fashion spinoff Storm, which has three branches.

The Queen St trial for Eighteen73 had been running six weeks and was attracting a good response. It would be examined after six months, he said.

A decision would be made then whether to establish it at central business districts in Christchurch, Wellington and possibly Dunedin.

Whiting said Eighteen73 faced the usual challenges for trial formats, such as lack of brand awareness.

But the new store was being tested with the "terrible" backdrop of massive roadworks in the main street.

Whiting said the roadworks - which have cut retail revenue for some Queen St retailers by 30 per cent - had affected Eighteen73 trading.

But reaction had still been positive.

A new store at the Sylvia Park shopping centre in Mt Wellington, Auckland, was the flagship for the standard Hallensteins brand.

Analysts approached by the Business Herald had not heard about the new format, but said Hallensteins typically gave the market few details about its new developments.

Hallenstein Glasson will be looking for higher margins as it competes in apparel with discount-based big shed retailers such as The Warehouse.