internal. With its stores enjoying prominent locations, Digbys is well placed to attract new customers from the passing trade. “Especially shops that are anchored to hotels – Collins Place is anchored to the Sofitel and other city hotels, while Como is based at the Como Hotel and has new hotels around it,” Digbys’ director, Charlie Digby, told Inside Retail PREMIUM. “We built up our Sydney customers purely through our Melbourne shops. You have people here on business or pleasure coming to Melbourne, they stay at Como, they stay in town – they fall into one of our shops.” Store sizes range between around 50sqm – that’s Emporium, because of the expensive square footage – to around 100sqm. High-end fabrics are bought in Italy and France, with the garments then being made up in Australia. “We make our own products, we’re purely vertical,” Digby said. “We go overseas twice a year to the best fabric shops and Première Vision Paris – we buy fabrics without compromise,” Digby said. Digbys’ garments are European in style – something one would expect to buy in Milan or Paris.
 Digby said there are a number of advantages to producing in Melbourne, especially when ranges sell out or a garment needs altering or repair. “We have the quickest turnaround – two to three weeks,” he said. “Also, we give the customer better service if something goes wrong with the garment – we can take it to the regional factory and get something repaired within a week. If we were manufacturing overseas, the turnaround could be three or four months – and by that time the season would be over.” Sydney sojourn Digbys travels north across the Victoria-NSW border twice a year to set up shop in Sydney, selling from a serviced apartment for a week per season. It’s essentially a Sydney pop-up store, and Digby said setting up in Sydney in this manner is always worth the effort, and then some. “We do incredible business – it’s a pop-up store but always the latest range. We go there at the start of the seasons, with the full range in all sizes.” The business could easily establish a lucrative interstate presence permanently, but Digby hasn’t got plans to do that himself. “It could be expanded, certainly interstate – to Sydney, Canberra, Perth – and overseas, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai,” he said. “It would be received well. The shop could easily sit in any tower in these Asian capital cities. The only thing that one would have to do is mark up the garments, because of the European standard.” However, Digby believes the middle market in this retail sector has shrunk in recent years. “In the world market, which I stay aware of, that’s the reality, even in Australia,” Digby said. “You’ve got Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton – which are very busy, and then you have Zara and Topshop. The boutiques I grew up with in the 70s, 80s and 90s, are no longer there.” The average price of Digby garments is $500. Size 12 is its bestseller, while size 14s and 16s are also popular. “In Australia the customer does not have much choice in buying a European type garment – a quality garment with a quality fabric,” Digby said. “ We do have a lot of those customers.” Digbys reaches those customers via an extensive, 20,000-strong database that, according to Digby, “virtually keeps us in business”. Customers on the database are emailed a maximum of only six times a year, mainly about new ranges and exclusive, privileged offerings. Customers on the Digbys database are notified prior to sales and offered a discount on the entire range. The Digbys website is yet to become transactional, as Digby is a firm believer in the virtues of bricks and mortar retail. “We still love the customer to come in, feel the fabric and try the fit – especially dresses – and we like the service,” Digby said. “All the way through, one thing consistent with the brand is passion. Passion for the product, passion for the look, passion for the quality, passion for the service. That’s how we’ve run our business.” This story first appeated in Inside Retail PREMIUM, issue 2049.  To subscribe, click here.