Cruise control: Uncovering the staying power of Cruise

For decades, Cruise’s carrier bags have been used and re-used long after they have safely transported their contents home. Why? Because, as the fashion crusader which brought high-end labels to Scotland back in the early Eighties, it’s a brand for which most Scottish fashion lovers have something of a soft spot, and back in the day, a Cruise carrier bag swinging from the crook of your elbow meant you had style, fashion nous and, most importantly perhaps, cash.

This evening, Cruise will mark its 30th anniversary with a catwalk show – featuring labels including Alexander McQueen, Lanvin, Acne and Chloe – at the seventh annual Scottish Style Awards in Glasgow, with Jim Gibson, Cruise’s founder, flying in to watch it.

Glasgow is a fitting location for the celebration since, while the brand was born in Newcastle and its first foray north of the Border was in Edinburgh, it is perhaps most popular with style-conscious Glaswegians. Indeed, its HQ is in the city and its Ingram Street store is an automatic stop on the Glasgow shopping scene.

So what marks Cruise out? When it first opened there was no online shopping, no nipping to Harvey Nichols, no budget airlines to ferry Scots over the pond for Stateside designer shopping sprees. Scots who were after their fix of high fashion had few choices. There was the now defunct Warehouse in Glasgow and the still-going-strong Corniche in Edinburgh, but little else.

“I still remember going to Cruise as a teenager,” says fashion commentator Kelly Cooper Barr. “I’ve known the brand for 30 years and I still go in. In fact I was in there yesterday. At first it was a bit of a secret for those in the know, but then it just exploded, but remained pretty cutting edge. I remember getting a pair of cream shorts with a matching top, the edges of which had been burned with cigarettes. Today it’s still a shopping mecca in Glasgow, the equivalent of Browns in London for us. It might carry all the top labels in the world but it’s got a personal feel that I love.”

Cruise may have stood out like sharp Italian tailoring in a sea of tracksuits when it first opened, but a lot can change in 30 years, especially in fashion. It has changed hands a number of times, and had to be bought out of administration in 2009. Can it still entice Scottish shoppers over its threshold the way it once did in the face of online designer shopping and big department stores?

“Cruise has survived because it has evolved,” says fashion commentator John Davidson. “The problem many private fashion businesses have is that whatever it is they do on day one they’re still doing on day 101. And then they close on day 102. In fashion you really need to move, to place a time limit on things, and Cruise has managed to do that.”

Founded in 1981 by design graduate Gibson, Cruise started out as a small boutique in Newcastle. The business grew rapidly, however, with a shop opening on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile then on Renfield Street in Glasgow. In a city known for its love of designer labels, the shop – which stocked everything from Gucci and Prada to Marni and Dolce & Gabbana – was embraced wholeheartedly and more outlets sprang up in the city.

“I can remember my first visit to Cruise like it was yesterday,” says Mary McGowne, the organiser of the Scottish Style Awards. “I was 16 and people called it ‘the club shop’ in reference to its nightclub atmosphere. Walking into it was intimidating, the staff were painfully hip and I remember being completely blown away by the fashion. Being young and from Kilmarnock, and having been in awe of friends’ older sisters coming back from the big city with their Cruise bag, it was like a rite of passage going in for the first time. I’d never seen clothes like it. Acid house was really kicking off and the store played incredible music really loud. Outside the store became as much of a hang-out as inside.”

McGowne went on to work at Cruise as a buyer before founding the Scottish Style Awards in 2005.

“I remember the day I opened the box containing the first ever delivery of Versace into Scotland,” she says. “And I remember the queues of girls stretching up Renfield Street. It was madness. Girls were buying dresses three sizes too big just to own something, anything as long as it had that label.”

Today, the flagship store still dominates Ingram Street in the Merchant City, and there are eight more across the UK. Despite a loyal customer base comprising everyone from businessmen to footballers’ wives, however, Cruise has had a difficult few years. It was backed by Icelandic investment fund Kcaj and went into administration in May 2009 during the Icelandic banking crisis. It was then bought back by the existing management team, who proceeded to close half of its 20 UK stores including the ladieswear outlet in Edinburgh’s Castle Street.

However, the company was then acquired in December by Sir Tom Hunter, who then sold it to Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley earlier this year, with Hunter retaining a 20 per cent stake. So how does it stay afloat in such a tough market, one which has seen off several competitors over the past three decades? Ewan Hunter, marketing director at Cruise, insists it’s a combination of “product and people”.

“We’ve got incredible brand support, exceptional staff and a wonderful customer base who reward us with their loyalty,” he says. “That sounds like marketing nonsense but how many retailers have customers who live in London but travel to their retail locations hundreds of miles from London?”

Cruise may be famous for attracting Old Firm footballers and their hangers on, however its customer base is a little more varied than that. “Cruise has had a few different tribes over the years,” says Davidson. “There’s the footballers’ wives, of course, but then there’s a whole clan of arty-farty types who go there to stock up on Marni.

“It’s been a commercial hit from an early stage and it remains a significant player on the British fashion scene.”

“It was definitely one of the fashion pioneers for Scotland,” adds fashion stylist Lindsay Campbell. “Before Cruise you could open a magazine and admire the pieces featured in it, but you’d rarely be able to buy them in Scotland. I know it’s had a tough time over the past few years but its brand identity is pretty strong. Its campaigns look like a Gucci ad and its eveningwear has been exceptional recently. I remember carrying my school books around in a Cruise bag because I couldn’t bear to throw it away.”

Three decades after Cruise first opened its doors, after a lot of changes, a few struggles and a couple of re-designs of its famous bags, fashion-mad Scots are still flocking through its doors. And a new generation of schoolgirls are saving up their pocket money so they can buy something, anything, from the store as long as it means they can get their hands on a coveted Cruise carrier bag.

Cruise timeline:

1981 AFTER completing a design course at Newcastle University, Cruise is founded by Hong Kong-born businessman Jim Gibson. He later explains: “I just wanted to do something totally different.”

1982 THE business expands quickly, opening its first Scottish branch on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Gibson goes on to open 20 UK stores with branches in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow. He also launches an online boutique. Designer shops – including Armani and Ralph Lauren – soon spring up on the same block as Cruise in Glasgow. Cruise goes on to bring a number of exclusives to Scotland, including Ugg boots and Versace.

2006 AFTER 25 years at the helm of the company, Gibson sells Cruise to Icelandic fund Kcaj for about £7 million. Cruise is acquired by John Heath and Iain Baird.

2008 THE Icelandic banks collapse.

2009 JAMES Pow comes on board as chief executive.

2010 THE company is bought by business restructuring firm Hilco from HBOS but goes into administration and is then acquired by Sir Tom Hunter for an undisclosed sum, a move which saved around 300 jobs, including 190 in Scotland.

2011 SIR Tom Hunter sells an 80 per cent share in Cruise to Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley for £7m. After 30 years in business Cruise has ten stores in the UK and turns over about £20m annually.