The White Company is a retailer of bedroom, home, clothing, and fragrance goods, whose head office is located at London's Television Centre. It was founded by

Chrissie Rucker Chrissie Rucker (born 6 November 1968 in Edenbridge, Kent) is a British businesswoman, best known for founding British retailer The White Company in 1994. Because of her self-made success story and the similar products, she has been compared to ...

in 1994. Mary Homer left

Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British fashion brand for women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, but went into administration in late 2020 before being purchased by ASOS (r ...

in March 2017 to head the company.

History

The White Company was established in 1994 as a mail order business selling items through a 12-page catalogue which has grown into a multi-channel, international business. Started up with a small government grant and £6,000 inheritance, it originally had a 500 people mailing list. Chrissie Rucker managed to gather some editorial coverage and press releases which led to it making £80,000 in the first year, just breaking even. Originally encompassing products including sheets, covers and pillows, it later expanded into home décor, dinnerware, fragrances, candles, furniture and clothing. A children's division called 'The Little White Company' was also added. International sales witnessed a faster growth with sales rising 11.3 percent year-on-year to $14 million (£10.2 million) compared to a 7.2 percent growth reported in the UK at $258 million (£188 million). In 2017, the company's products were chosen to outfit the business and first class of

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

' planes.

Locations

As of May 2022, The White Company has 70 stores, clearance stores, and concession stores. They have 61 UK stores, including concessions and clearance stores, 6 US concessions, 2

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

stores—1 of which is a clearance store, and 1

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

concession. The American concessions are located in

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

stores, while the UK concessions are situated in a variety of retailers, including:

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

and 3

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge ...

sites—

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

, the

Bullring A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are o ...

, and the

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Group, the Trafford C ...

. The White Company also has a number of stores in UK

shopping centres A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

, including:

Westfield London Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the We ...

and

Westfield Stratford City Westfield Stratford City is a shopping centre in Stratford, east London, which opened on 13 September 2011. With a total retail floor area of , it is the largest urban shopping centre in the UK by land area and the 4th-largest shopping cen ...

, Bluewater,

Liverpool One Liverpool ONE is a shopping, residential, and leisure complex in Liverpool, England. The project involved the redevelopment of 42 acres (170,000 m2) of land in the city centre. It is a retail-led development anchored by the department store ...

, and Meadowhall. They opened their first shop in London's Symons Street.

References

British companies established in 1994 Retail companies of the United Kingdom Mail-order retailers {{UK-retail-company-stub