The Sting, London

The newly opened Dutch owned brand store 'The Sting' launched here recently in London right on the high profile corner of Piccadilly Circus. Those of us who have been shopping here for eons will remember this as Tower Records. We always met up outside Tower Records on a Saturday night before venturing into the dubious bars of Soho, religiously. Anyway, in its latter years it was reincarnated as the Virgin megastore and then the oddly named Zavvi. My first impression from their window scheme was that this looked really promising. The scheme is strong and as a launch, I'm sure they must have hired every available stylist in town. Anyway, as a collection of brands each of the windows has a slightly differing variation on the same theme with a Union Jack backdrop. I did have a sneak review into the store while it was closed and sadly it does appear like just about every other 'multiple' on the high street, and this is a shame. Mounds of t-shirts, Jeans and shirts on low level plinths piled high, wardrobes and so on. The decor reflects the usual tourist stuff we have seen along Carnaby street forever. It will be interesting to see if these guys can maintain the standards they have set in the windows as time goes by. I am guessing it will all just blend into the blandness of the other stores at this end of Piccadilly, but we may be surprised. It really is a shame however that we have yet another store peddling this cheap mass produced stuff and further saturating the high street. This is not what London is about. But very good presentation none the less.