UK: Fossil To Open Two Retail Outlets

By Deborah Bowyer Expanding watch company, Fossil, has announced it is opening two UK shops. The news comes in the same week that the consumer brand launched its new apparel and jeanswear ranges online. The first shop will open in Covent Garden, London and the other in the prestigious Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. Commenting on the announcement, Fossil's executive vice president Richard Gundy said: "Each of the general retail locations is expected to draw approximately 30 million people a year. "The exposure these two stores will bring to the Fossil brand will go a long way in accelerating our penetration into that market." The shops will sell Fossil's distinctive brand of watches, leather accessories and sunglasses. It is not clear whether they will carry the new apparel lines. Since its inception in 1984, the Fossil brand has grown from its original flagship watch product into a world-renowned fashion brand offering a diversified range of accessories. The brand image is reminiscent of `America in the 1950's'. Interesting details such as variations in the treatment of watch dials, crystals, cases, straps and bracelets are used.