Hobbs is a women's clothing, footwear and accessories retailer based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK. It was founded in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

in 1981 as a shoe retailer. Hobbs now has stores across the

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, concession stores in the

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and

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, and franchise stores in Dubai and Sweden. The

online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

is operational in 55 countries. Hobbs is popularly associated with mid-market clothing for a customer base that is largely middle-aged and older.

Origins and history

Hobbs was established in Hampstead in 1981 by Yoram and Marilyn Anselm, targeting the "average woman between the ages of 20 and 40 interested in clothing". The brand was named after Marilyn Anselm's favourite brand of horsebox. Having studied sculpture at the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Crafts. ...

, Marilyn Anselm said she began designing her own clothes because she was appalled by the lack of quality clothing available in the early 1970s. Hobbs initially produced shoes, with the clothing line introduced in 1986. The Hobbs online store was launched in the United Kingdom in 2008, and was expanded to include international customers in 2013. Hobbs now delivers to 55 countries, with websites serving Australia, Germany and the United States. In 2013 it was rumoured that the company would be sold, after it employed consultants from

Price Waterhouse Coopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

and began planning a launch of the brand in China. Its owners, 3i, wrote down the value of the company in January 2014. In the financial year 2014-15, Hobbs suffered pre-tax losses of £15.6 million, after acquiring a new chairman and chief executive during 2014. It closed nine outlets during the period. As of June 2025, Hobbs has 157 stores in the United Kingdom, and operates from a range of department stores, such as Debenhams and John Lewis.

Other markets

Hobbs launched its US operations in

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

in 2014, and there are now 13 concessions across the Bloomingdales network. Hobbs is also available online at Bloomingdales.com. In 2015, the team in the Bloomingdales North Michigan Avenue branch received the Bloomingdales "B the Best" Award, as well as the team in the 59th Street store. Hobbs has four stores in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

department stores Wöhrl and SinnLeffers, which opened in 2016.

Collaborations

In 2013, Hobbs launched a licensed collection produced in collaboration with the Historic Royal Palaces. Two collections are now designed and produced each year. In 2015 the collection received an Innovation award for the collaboration between Historic Royal Palaces and Hobbs on Collection No.4. Hobbs also works in collaboration with Smart Works; a

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

which seeks to help unemployed women to enter the UK workplace by providing interview clothes, styling advice and interview training.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.hobbs.com/ Clothing companies based in London Clothing companies of England Clothing companies established in 1981 Retail companies established in 1981 Shoe companies of the United Kingdom