Boden History 2001-2006
By 2001, our Christmas parties had
grown from a few of us sitting in our local pub, The Castle, into properly big and
messy affairs where staff are invited to tie up the Directors and throw things at
them. We launched in America in 2002 and
you've been very kind to us. We are very much a niche brand, even though we have
at least one customer in every state (in some, it really is just the one). The US
now represents just over 20% of the business, so thank you very much.
More growth meant that in 2003 we had to open a brand new warehouse
in Leicester. It's pretty big, and was opened by the High Sheriff of Leicester (the
guy in the hat - n.b. he has a sword too!). Everyone was disappointed that he didn't
wear a cowboy hat, but he looked very smart anyway.
We ventured into retail in 2004 opening a shop in Hanger Lane, West London. We've
tried to make it as practical as possible - lots of space for Womenswear, a play
area for children, and somewhere to sit and read the papers for the men. We won
an award for it, and like it so much that we might even open some more.
We're now one of the fastest growing mail order companies in the
UK, with sales of $102m and 550 staff. That's how we did it. Pretty much, anyway.
