Denham brings denim to Leeds for flagship northern store

INTERNATIONAL jeans retailer Denham officially opened its first north of England store last night, just a few doors down from where the founder’s father-in-law started work more than 60 years ago.

Denham is based in Amsterdam and employs 150 people across 30 stores around the world, including 11 in south-east Asia, but opening a store in Leeds is a proud moment for Englishman Jason Denham.

His wife, Debbie, is from Ossett and her father started his working life in 1954 at Smart’s furniture store on Briggate.

“It makes me immensely proud to be coming back to the UK,” said Mr Denham. “It’s a big time for the northern market.

“One of the things that gets me excited is the way Leeds has brought shopping back into the city centre. To be on the front door of Trinity and to be on Briggate, which has a great history, is fantastic.

“What we needed to do in the UK is show what we can do as a full concept.”

The Leeds store is over three floors, and has Denham’s men’s and women’s colletions and its private wardrobe service, which is its VIP shopping experience.

“The concept is very strong. Our sign-off is “the truth is in the detail” – we are a story-telling brand, it’s very genuine.

“When I built this brand seven years ago, I said I would build it on three values – people, product and presentation.

“Retail is changing now dramatically. The success of online means you have to do things differently. Retail should be an experience, it needs to be fun, otherwise you might as well buy it online.”