It was whilst working as a fashion director for a magazine that Sally Dixon came up with the idea for Every Second Counts. During her trips to New York for work she discovered their range of fitness wear was unmatched elsewhere. They had more choice, better quality and interesting styles to choose from. Passionate about fitness and healthy living, Sally decided to launch her own fitness wear brand, Every Second Counts. Fashion led and made in Europe, Every Second Counts offers the variety and quality in fitness wear that Sally felt the UK lacked. This November, she’s launched her first physical store for the brand on Ledbury Road in Notting Hill, so we whacked on our trainers and headed along to find out a little bit more…
What was it that made you decide now was the time to launch a physical store for Every Second Counts?
Having been established now for almost 2 years and selling primarily online, we decided the next logical step would be to meet our customers in person. Their feedback is really important to us so that we can continue to grow and improve.
Alongside this we get to share our story and what we stand for, which is a holistic approach to fitness and health. Starting with motivational mantras printed on the reverse of our garments to weekly health and fitness blogs, we are here to help you be a fitter, happier and healthier you!
What appealed to you about the space on Ledbury Road?
We have been based in West London for over a year (our offices are just down the road at Great Western Studios) so it was nice for us to be able to set up shop within the neighbourhood. The location is great, right in the heart of Notting Hill. It’s home to a unique and exciting collection of fashion boutiques, healthy eateries and bespoke jewellers. The shop itself is fantastic. It’s a light and airy space which made it easy for us to dress.
The store looks amazing, can you talk us through how you designed it?
The store was already fitted out to a good standard so we only had to bring in a few extra things to give it our own stamp. I have two pommel horses at home (I love collecting old pieces!) so they were a definite in the store and have proved a great way to display clothes too.
For the window displays we decided to get creative and hang outfits rather than have them on mannequins, we then interspersed gymnastics rings in between the outfits to give it that extra fitness feel. Every Second Counts is very much about positive living and we took some of the inspirational mantras we have inside our clothes and turned them in to vinyls for the white walls – this really brings the brand to life.
What's the reaction been like from the people who've visited?
The reception has been great, we’ve had so many positive comments from customers new to the brand and also a few customers coming in already wearing Every Second Counts which really puts a smile on my face! I love seeing people enjoying wearing our pieces.
You’ve been hosting all sorts of exciting events and classes in-store, tell us a little bit more about these?
As an online business it’s sometimes difficult to give back to our customers and community so it gives us great pleasure to be able to run a series of free community events at our pop up store. We’ve partnered up with some amazing local trainers, nutritionists and health brands to offer a range of fitness classes, events and food giveaways. It definitely helps to increase awareness of the store on social media and also introduce new people to the brand who may have never heard of Every Second Counts before.
Who would be your dream customer to visit the store?
Actually, our dream customer came in the other day, she was already dressed in an Every Second Counts outfit that she’d bought from MatchesFashion.com, (one of our stockists). She looked amazing and was loving it. We are a very small team here at ESC, so````` little things like that really make our day.
Where next for Every Second Counts?
We’ve really enjoyed our time in the pop up so far, it’s been fantastic meeting customers and getting their thoughts on styles, fabrics, fit, etc. I think we would definitely look at doing this again in a new location in the very near future.
Feeling inspired? Book the Ledbury Road space for your idea here.