I paid a visit to the newly opened Ralph Lauren Rugby this weekend in Covent Garden, London. Aside from the overwhelming amount of Rugby shirts upstairs, the downstairs delivered a plethora of interesting things; from affordable totes and accessories to plenty of tweed and knitwear to some really nice vintage watches.
I’m not sure what the U.S. perception is of this side of the Ralph business, but it certainly made a good first impression on me.
That being said there were a few things that concerned me mildly. The first being the ridiculously good looking members of staff EVERYWHERE (not that I have an issue with ridiculously good looking folks, but it was a little heavy handed – it’s no good if the overwhelming amount of good looking staff members make the customers feel like trolls. Hopefully they were all there for opening day duties only) and also the overly friendly greeting on the door. It all felt a touch Abercrombie and Fitch, which I suspect is the market Ralph is going for here, but still, lets not get too carried away. The personalised Rugby shirt offer only went on to reinforce this.
These points aside though, the store left a good overall impression and I’m looking forward to going back to explore it a little more thoroughly when it’s less rammed.
I did of course walk away with a token opening day purchase… a pair of socks.
