Retail & Leisure

Citypress client Swindon Designer Outlet recently received a visit from BBC 2's Working Lunch programme.

The outlet was the main focus of the programme's 'Savvy Spending' section, which highlighted the growing popularity of outlet shopping and the many advantages of being able to pick up quality designer goods at affordable prices.

The outlet's personal shopper Judith guided presenter Michael Miller around the outlet to pick out several key looks which showcased the wide range of clothing the outlet offers. Colin Wilding, UK manager for McArthurGlen, was also on hand to comment on the appeal of outlet shopping.

View the programme on the BBC iPlayer (skip to the 23 minute mark)

We've launched the first drive-thru Starbucks franchise for client Euro Garages, the fast-growing petrol forecourt operator.

The two companies have signed a licensing deal to open up to 30 drive-thru stores in the UK, creating 600 jobs.

The agreement marks the rollout of the Starbucks drive-thru concept in the UK, following the success of its pilot store in Cardiff which opened in March 2008.

The first opened in Deeside in North Wales in March, with the help of local MP Mark Tami. Sites in Shrewsbury and Runcorn will follow, with a total of seven further sites due to open in the next 12 months.

Coverage was placed in target local, regional, national and trade press.

McArthurGlen Designer Outlets have kicked off the Christmas season in style supported by national, regional and digital PR.

15,000 people braved the driving rain to welcome The Saturdays, Basshunter and Mr Hudson to Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet on Friday 13 November. The acts all performed their biggest hits to the lively crowd before switching on the lights of Britain’s biggest Christmas tree.

We worked hard to spread the word on the launch, with a pre-event mention on Radio 1's Chris Moyles Show ensuring a fantastic turn out. Pictures of the event also appeared in the News of The World and on the popular gossip site, Mr Paparazzi.

The Consumer team were on hand at the outlet throughout the evening to coordinate press interviews and photography, as well as feed through plenty of Twitter updates.

We also kept the Twitter buzz going before, during and after the event,
spreading the world about Cheshire Oaks’ video Christmas card from the event and retweeting customer comments.

We've also worked with McArthurGlen on the other Christmas launch events at Swindon Designer Outlet, Bridgend Designer Outlet, and Livingston Designer Outlet. And, with the East Midlands Designer Outlet, Ashford Designer Outlet and York Designer Outlet Christmas launches still to come, we’ll be keeping busy rolling out more PR support throughout the lead up to Christmas.


Coverage www.mrpaparazzi.com

In addition to supporting WOMbat adventure clothing in their website relaunch and expansion plans, Citypress is now working on driving footfall to the company’s high-street stores.

WOMbat's five stores in Cambridge, Leamington Spa, Abersoch, and the newly opened Bristol and Chester branches, will be holding various events over the coming months to ease the stress of a weekend shopping trip for customers, with Citypress responsible for planning and publicity.

Last month, WOMbat was on a mission to bring back the Great British conker fight. Conker fights were held in-store every weekend with customers being let loose on the shop floor to challenge other conker-wielding shoppers or even staff to join them. All customers were given their own conkers to take away with them so they could start their own tournaments with friends and family and the activity was a great success.

Look out for upcoming events, including mince pies and mulled wine at Christmas.

To see WOMbat's new website, go to www.wombatclothing.com

Our client McArthurGlen's Designer Outlets has continued to defy the consumer downturn with second quarter sales up on last year.

Sales at McArthurGlen's seven UK centres are up by 5.6% per cent compared with the same period last year, despite UK retail sales falling 0.8% on a like-for-like basis in May 2009*.

Designer brands and accessories continue to sell especially well, showing an average sales increase of more than 20% per cent across the UK centres.

We secured some great press coverage for these impressive statistics, with Sky News broadcasting two live news reports from McArthurGlen's Cheshire Oaks site and features running in The Times and across regional media local to each designer outlet.

Henrik Madsen, McArthurGlen's Managing Director for the UK and Northern Europe, says: "The economic climate has encouraged people to make their money go a lot further but instead of sacrificing quality for price, UK shoppers want both and are opting for out of town designer outlets to pick up top brand names at discount.

"With our average footfall figures increasing by 4.4% over the last three months, the discounts of up to 60 per cent available at our seven centres appears to be attracting more shoppers."

*BRC-KMPG Retail Sales Monitor May 2009 www.brc.org.uk


Coverage
Times Online