Just eleven months after their liquidation The Bombay Company announces it will re-emerge in the US.
This should be good news, however when companies re-launch so quickly one can not help but think first about the collateral damage from the bankruptcy and closure. With 400 some odd locations, the warehouses, employees, vendors, and landlords someone must have been shortchanged in these deals - to say the least.
The company’s website BombayCompany.com announces: “The Future Home of Bombay Brands”. An Adobe flash presentation reveals slick modern photography and youthful models in lifestyle shots overlaid with old nostalgic British Colonial imagery. The text promises us the following: “Bringing tradition, warmth, romance, great taste (etc.) to Home Décor…et al.
This may be a no easy task as this is the same Bombay Company whose stores I recall were full of fussy dark veneered rubber-wood nesting tables and brass monkeys. The announcement of re-hiring their head merchant who left the company in 2007 is also a surprise.
The re-launch plans include a three tier distribution strategy; high-end department stores & specialty gift stores, mid-tier home retailers, and mass discount chains.
I remain optimistic but I’m not sure the merchants at Bloomingdale’s or Neiman Marcus are ready to stand behind a brand with Bombay’s product history until the new product ranges are revealed. One way into these better retailers would be to buy the floor space with a shop-in-shop build-outs and offer well designed high quality furnishings. Today many luxury brands cross over and offer mass merchant collections, but this one certainly will be a tougher sell as they need to trade up, not down.
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