In his latest interview with ambitious business leaders, Eric Musgrave speaks once again to Paul Platt, founder of the Midlands-based mini chain Pockets.
Nearly a year after their first conversation Platt explains why he continues to believe in physical retailing and why he has picked a Georgian townhouse in Bath for his fifth and most ambitious store, which is the second in the group to stock womenswear.
Belstaff, Boss, C P Company, Dries Van Noten, Emporio Armani, Lacoste, Max Mara, Moncler, Paul & Shark, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Stone Island and Thom Browne are among the brands stocked by Pockets.
We covered the details of the Pockets Townhouse here but we wanted to find out more about the motivation behind this bold move, which comes as Pockets approaches its 30th anniversary in 2026. Not many premium independents are opening new stores these days.
Congratulations on the fifth Pockets store, which you will open on Wednesday 10 September. How did you decide Bath was the place to be?
I’ve been looking at Bath for about seven years but COVID and its aftermath got in the way. It’s a lovely part of the world, nice and clean, with plenty of tourists. It’s not been spoiled and it seems to be thriving as a city. It’s easy to get to from London and it’s close to the south-west, so I thought we could make something work there, especially after (premium menswear retailer) John Anthony was closed (after being acquired by Frasers Group). There’s no one left at our level.
Your flagship store in Shrewsbury is in a Georgian townhouse. Your new store at Brock Street, between two of Bath’s landmarks, the Circus and the Royal Crescent, is a Georgian townhouse. Did you have other options in Bath?
We did, but what we are calling the Pockets Townhouse blew all the others away. It’s been a long journey to secure it as it wasn’t on the market. We started in January and got the final sign-off only eight weeks ago. It’s leasehold and our landlord is a wealthy Danish businessman. It was important to us that it was a residence, not a shop. When I saw it, I thought, yes, this is special enough. The owner had restored it and as it is Grade I listed, there was not a lot we could do to it. We had to work with what is there. But I’d say with the location, the building and the art we have put on the walls, we have taken the Pockets experience to a new level.
The three other Pockets are in Nantwich, Hanley and Newcastle-under-Lyme, all about 45 minutes’ drive from the main store in Shrewsbury. Bath is three hours away. How are you going to manage it at such a distance?
For the next 12 months, I am moving to Bath and I’ll be at the store for 80% of my time. That’s how important this move is for us. I must build up the Pockets experience and the Pockets reputation in Bath myself to make it work. One of our former members of staff, who worked with us for about 10 years, is rejoining us and I’ll recruit two or three local people. We will run the store on four or five staff. It will be the same philosophy as we apply elsewhere – to sell nice products at fair prices in an interesting environment, giving good service. Doing that always gives you a good chance, I believe.
On menswear, have you made any changes to your premium brand mix?
We are loyal to the brands that work for us, so it will be a very similar line-up, but we are bringing in a few newer Italian labels like Barena and Slowear, which we think we work well in Bath. And we still believe in tailoring, although today of course it’s very soft tailoring.
You introduced womenswear to the Shrewsbury store for spring this year and you will have it in Bath from the start. How are you enjoying buying for women after almost 30 years of buying only menswear?
Buying womenswear is different but I’ve been enjoying it. I have been guided by the sales staff in the brands’ showrooms backed by my own gut feeling and that seems to have paid off. In due course I expect we will hire a dedicated womenswear buyer but I needed to do the job to get it off the ground. In Shrewsbury we have hired two women to work in the department – including Carol Grant, who used to have her own shop in the town – and I’ll be looking for dedicated womenswear staff in Bath.
Around 12 months ago you spoke about the ups & downs you and the rest of the trade had suffered since the lockdown. Has the market stabilised yet?
Things are still tougher than they were for us and that’s what other retailers tell me. People are holding on to their money, there’s no doubt. Our financial year ended in August and we traded reasonably well over the past 12 months but our running costs went up by £100,000 because of the changes in employers’ NI, higher wages, higher utility bills and the rest of it. We have had to work hard just to stand still.
This superb new Pockets underlines your belief in physical retailing. Like last year, do you still regard your website as a ‘necessary evil’, primarily to clear old stock?
Yes, I do. It’s still necessary but I’m very glad we don’t have to rely on it. In a related area, we are making inroads with our social media – we have added around 1,000 followers on Instagram in the past 12 months – but we are still a long way from being good at it.
Next spring Pockets will be 30 years old. How will you celebrate the anniversary and are you planning further branches?
We opened in Shrewsbury in a part of our current building on 6 April 1996. As we grew, we took over the whole building, so we will probably have some sort of event in that store on 6 April. As for further expansion, we have to get Bath to work first. But I could see room for maybe a couple more Pockets, working on the Bath template – going for something big and special. They may be even further away from Shrewsbury, so to enable us to do that we will need to have the right people in the team. That’s in the future. For now, I am very excited for what Bath might bring. In a sector that’s been surrounded by too many closures in recent years, I am very proud of what we have achieved with Pockets.
