Topman General Store | High street giant launches second spin-off shop
Topman opened a second General Store this week with a launch party at the new shop in Covent Garden.
What’s the difference between a Topman General Store and a regular Topman? Not all that much by the looks of it. Essentially it’s smaller, so the stock is carefully chosen (‘curated’ they like to call it) by Topman Design Director Gordon Richardson and B Store’s Matthew Murphy. The Covent Garden store has a more grown-up feel to it – all white washed wooden floors and antique furniture – but the clothes are predominantly trend-led; more Navajo jackets and tailored shorts, less V-neck tshirts and chinos. It looks like they’re trying to appeal to the people who would otherwise be shopping at the independent boutiques and vintage stores nearby or who might think they’re a bit too cool for Topman. Either way, it’s a far more pleasant retail experience than fighting through hoards of girls to get to the Topman on the second floor of the Topshop flagship at Oxford Circus.
The General Store was heaving with hipsters on Wednesday night, drinking the Sipsmith gin and tonic bar dry and craning to get a glimpse of boy/girl duo Big Deal playing in the back room. I didn’t have my SLR on hand but I did grab a few snaps on my iPhone. Click on the gallery below to enlarge. Or you can glimpse me about 2 mins into this video, sipping my G&T.
The Topman General Store is now open 36-38 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LA. Visit the Topman website.
