Ex-Asda boss Andy Bond yesterday opened the first Pep & Co store in Kettering.
The 4,000 sq ft shop, which will stock womenswear, menswear and kidswear will open in the Newland Shopping Centre this summer.
The store will be among the first of about 50 stores that the value fashion retailer will open within two months of its launch in mid-July.
Andy Bond, who created Asda’s fashion line George, claims there is still room in the market for another discount retailer player, with yesterday’s new store opening attracting a queue of around 100 people.
“This is just one store on one day, so in some ways it doesn’t mean a lot. But it would have meant a lot if there was no one here,” said Adrian Mountford, Pep & Co MD and a former Sainsbury’s and Matalan executive.
“Everyone we talk to wants to call us mad for trying,” said Mr Bond. “But that bloke that said the world was not flat, he was thought a bit mad at the time.”
