Jack Wills

Founded	1999
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom Ireland
Industry	Fashion Clothing Apparel
Products	Clothing, Homewares
Website	www.jackwills.com

Jack Wills is a British clothing brand and range of retail stores targeted at university students. The company currently use the brand "Jack Wills – University Outfitters".^[1]

The original Jack Wills store opened in Salcombe, Devon in 1999, before expanding to include a current chain of thirty-one stores throughout the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Five of these stores are located in London, with the remainder typically found in university towns and seaside resorts.^[1] Jack Wills' newest store opened in Eton, Berkshire in November 2009. They used to just be a range of mens sports clothing and university robes. Although they then extended to womens clothing to make Jack Wills the shop it is today.

The Jack Wills brand is wholly owned by Jack Wills Ltd, a private limited company registered in the UK.

Contents 1 History 2 Products 3 Marketing 4 Aubin and Wills 5 Criticisms 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

Jack Wills was founded in 1999 by Peter Williams, who named the company after his grandfather, Jack Wills.^[1] The original store was in Salcombe, Devon located at 22 Fore Street. This is often applied to the Jack Wills handbook, bags, and in-store signs. In 2008 the Aubin and Wills brand was launched and designed to appeal to older customers.^[2] For both brands, Jack Wills often picks unusual period buildings to house its stores, trading from old pubs (eg Kings Road) to town houses (eg Marlow).

The vast majority of Jack Wills stores are in the UK. Two branches exist in the Republic of Ireland: in Kildare and in Dublin. The website ships worldwide, and it is rumoured that they are looking at opening stores in the US and in Asia.^[1]

London Stores

Covent Garden, Kings Road, Notting Hill, Richmond, Clapham, Angel Islington

England

Aldeburgh, Bath, Bicester, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Cheltenham, Chester, Durham, Eton, Exeter, Guildford, Harrogate, Leeds, Marlow, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth (Gunwharf Keys), Reigate, Salcombe, St.Albans, Winchester, York Windsor

Scottish Stores

Aberdeen, Edinburgh, St.Andrews

Irish Stores

Kildare, Dublin

Opening Soon

Richmond (Replacing Smaller Existing Store)

Just Opened

Aberdeen, Burnham Market, Dublin, Kings Road (Flagship Store - London), Eton (Flagship Rolemodel Store)

[edit] Products

This article is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. For blatant advertising that would require a fundamental rewrite to become encyclopedic, use {{db-spam}} to mark for speedy deletion. (October 2009)

Jack Wills' retail products can be viewed via a catalogue, either online or in a printed copy.^[1] They are named ‘Handbooks’ and are released each season, named the Autumn Term Handbook, the Christmas Handbook, the Spring Term Handbook, the Summer Term Handbook and the Summer Holiday Handbook. Jack Wills’ clothes and accessories are marketed as classically ‘British’ in style, and inspired by traditional British heritage. A wide variety of products are sold including vintage sportswear, beachwear and leisure wear. The classic Jack Wills ‘look’ teams traditional British heritage formalwear with more contemporary fashion casual clothing Typical ranges in Ladies' include blazers, tweed jackets, hoodies, shirts, polos, tees, knitwear, skirts, underwear, jeans and outerwear, amongst others. Typical ranges in Gentlemen’s include similar selections, but also feature rugby shirts and omit skirts. Accessories are also sold, including scarves, belts, gloves, hats, ties, sunglasses & fragrance. Scarves are more than often striped and inspired by traditional British school and university academic scarves, similar to those worn in the colleges of Oxbridge. There is also a homeware section, featuring bath products, cushions, beanbags, blankets & duvet covers.

[edit] Marketing

Jack Wills’ ranges are given a ‘public school’ and ‘preppy’ branding,^[1] as the Jack Wills pricing strategy means the clothes may not be considered affordable to everyone. Jack Wills feature a sports style of clothes including, but not limited to, polo, rugby, and also rowing, such as the J.W.R.C; Jack Wills Rowing Club. Jack Wills does not advertise and instead relies on word of mouth viral marketing. This is often stimulated by the events they hold such as the Jack Wills Varsity Polo, JW Unsigned and JW Seasonnaires where they send brand reps to exclusive holiday resorts around the world.

[edit] Aubin and Wills

Aubin & Wills is a 'spin-off' brand, launched by Jack Wills in August/September 2008. Aimed at an older age range of customers, there are currently only 4 stores; Brighton, Wimbledon Village, Edinburgh and their flagship store in Notting Hill, London. There is also a website delivery option for those customers unable to get to a store. Aubin & Wills stocks both male and female ranges, along with a homewares section.

[edit] Criticisms

Jack Wills is often criticized on a small scale, most recently the company was highlighted due to Cigarettes being used in a shop display also nudity being featured in its Season Catalogue. The company stated they are trying to imitate the lifestyle of a sort of Jack Wills' shopper and the shop display in no way glamorized smoking. Jack Wills' also stated that customers are required to be 18 to sign up to the Jack Wills Handbook and are not required to remove or stop printing images of such nature. The company however published a complaint letter in their next handbook which seemed to prove very popular with its fan base.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jack Wills

• Jack Wills site
• Aubin & Wills Site