Company spends 6 months defining Purpose before returning to discounting

Time to button up with purpose. Small clothing retailer The Common Thread has reportedly completed a six-month brand purpose project before quietly returning to 40% off knitwear to compete with the chain store next door.

The process began when Managing Director Helen Cartwright, 46, engaged external agency North & Harbour to help the brand articulate why it existed beyond selling reasonably priced clothes through its five regional stores.

What followed was 14 workshops, 38 stakeholder revisions and several increasingly tense discussions over whether the company was in the business of confidence, community, self-expression or “helping everyday people dress for the life they’re becoming.”

Agency Strategy Director Luca Moretti, 39, said progress slowed as more employees joined the process.

“Every time we got close, someone’s cousin from operations would suggest adding ‘empowerment’,” he said.

After rejecting the agency’s final recommendation for being “too clear,” The Common Thread brought the project in-house, where it was revised by a store manager who had missed the earlier workshops but felt strongly about ‘authenticity’.

The final purpose, “To inspire human possibility through consciously curated expressions of everyday becoming”, was approved during a 4.5-hour meeting and emailed to staff under the subject line “Our North Star.”

Brand Manager Elise Chen, 31, confirmed most employees had forgotten it within the week. “We did print it on a poster in the break room,” she said. “But someone put the Boxing Day roster over it.”

Two days later, a larger fashion chain opened nearby offering 40% off storewide.

Common Thread responded immediately with a matching 40% off selected styles, a “Buy Two, Get One Free” promotion and a pavement sign reading PURPOSEFULLY PRICED TO CLEAR.

At the time of publication, management remained committed to embedding the purpose across every customer touchpoint as soon as trading conditions improved.

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