Sunspel Is Mapping Out New Retail Territory in California

Deborah Belgum
·3 min read
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A bit of James Bond heritage has arrived in Northern California.

Sunspel, the British luxury label known for its Riviera polo shirt worn by Daniel Craig in the James Bond movie “Casino Royale,” has landed outside of San Francisco with a new store at the Marin Country Mart.

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This is the first West Coast retail outpost for the label, which earlier this year opened its second New York City store on Madison Avenue, complementing its first U.S. location in Manhattan’s SoHo district.

Sunspel has eight stores in its home country of the U.K., but the U.S. is becoming the company’s second-largest market with accounts like Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue helping to grow business for the steeped-in-all-things English label founded in 1860 by Thomas A. Hill, who manufactured high-quality underwear and later branched out to T-shirts, boxer shorts and casualwear.

“We believe the Marin Country Mart has a very curated retail environment with different experiences. You have food and beverage, apparel, fashion and accessories. You’ve got a toy store and a stationery store with items from Japan,” said Raul Verdicchi, who in August was named Sunspel’s new chief executive officer. He succeeded Nicholas Brooke, who acquired Sunspel with Dominic Hazlehurst in 2005 from the descendants of the brand’s founder. “You can spend a full day here in a very relaxed way. There is very careful attention to detail, and I think that resonates very well with who we are.”

Marin Country Mart is in Larkspur, Calif., a San Francisco suburb 16 miles away across the Golden Gate Bridge. The mart has a small-town country vibe with a Saturday morning farmer’s market and a long list of contemporary brand stores including Birkenstock, James Perse, Fred Segal, Jenni Kayne and Veronica Beard. It is owned by Jim Rosenfield, who also owns the Brentwood Country Mart, opened in 1948 in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood.

For years, Sunspel made primarily menswear and is best known for its T-shirts, boxer shorts and polo shirts, manufactured still in its factory in Long Eaton, England. The company gained a small claim to fame in 2006 when costume designer Lindy Hemming approached the company about tailoring its Riviera polo shirt to fit Daniel Craig in the “Casino Royale” movie. The Riviera polo shirt is still a well-constructed classic piece that sells well.

Sunspel later branched out to womenswear, developing essentials including sweaters, shirts, T-shirts, trousers, vests, underwear and accessories. Last year, the brand released a capsule collection inspired by men’s clothing with British model Edie Campbell.

About 50 percent of the merchandise at the Marin Country Mart is for women, Verdicchi said. Men’s and women’s items retail for around $100 to $800.

In his new CEO role, Verdicchi wants to grow the brand beyond Great Britain and the U.S. Currently Sunspel has no stores in Europe, relying on e-commerce and wholesale partnerships to generate sales.

Globally, e-commerce accounts for about 45 percent of the company’s $23.1 million in revenues in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2022, as calculated by the government’s Companies House, which reports on sales made by British-based brands but primarily in the U.K.

The new CEO said he wants to expand into Asia. Already, Sunspel has signed on a partner in China for its online business. In Japan, it started working with a local company to grow online business and wholesale accounts. “There could be an opportunity for us to have a direct, retail opening there because the brand has a long history in that market, which is focused on detail and quality, which resonates with us,” Verdicchi said.

And expansion plans are ongoing to establish a local partnership in South Korea.

Back in the U.S., Sunspel will be opening a store in Los Angeles next April, although the location is still under wraps. “Different regions represent different opportunities for us,” Verdicchi said. “This brand has an incredible potential in having its story told.”

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