Firetrap to launch transactional site

Firetrap will unveil a trans-actional website in November as it focuses on building its retail sales in the UK and overseas.

Sister brand Fullcircle is to follow Firetrap online six months later. The brands, part of the World Design and Trade group (WDT), currently only have marketing websites.
WDT chief executive Pan Philippou told Drapers that transactional websites would boost both brands' profiles.  He said: "We need to be selling online; our customers expect it. We already get great sales with Asos, so it's a natural next step."

Philippou joined WDT in May last year, and with founder and owner Asbed Momdjian he is reassessing Firetrap's positioning.  Philippou said that by autumn 09 the business would look to roll-out its retail operation in the UK with a long-term target of 10 Firetrap and 10 Fullcircle stores.

The business is also looking to build brand profiles in department stores. It will launch 18 Firetrap corners and 12 Fullcircle corners this year.

Firetrap already has two stores in London, plus units in Belfast, Manchester and Edinburgh. Fullcircle has a store in Earlham Street in London's Covent Garden and will open a second store in Westfield London in west London later this year.

A second Firetrap store is due to open in Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates later this month, and the brand will open five shop-in-shops with its Middle East partner, the Paris Group, during the next 18 months.

Firetrap will also start opening stores in Canada with its partner Freemark Apparel Brands (FAB) in autumn 09.