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Industry News
A Right Royal Retail Weekend Local Gift Shops Get Ready To Party With crowds of people heading for Windsor to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry and his bride on Saturday May 19, local gift retailers will be hoping it’s a bumper one for commemorative giftware. Popular independent Windsor gift shop Vinegar Hill (one of 10 branches in the UK), will naturally be going all out to celebrate the Royal Wedding. “We’ll be decking out the window in traditional, commemorative bunting, mugs, tea towels and fridge magnets which have been designed by For Richer For Poorer, which donates the profits to the homeless of Windsor,” explains shop manager Lisa Ripley. “It’s been a big news story for the past few months and it’s a cause we’ve been promoting in the run-up to the wedding. They’re beautifully designed products that have a heart.” Lisa adds that the shop will also be having its very own Vinegar Hill street party. “Bunting, balloons and fancy dress will be the order of the day, along with the obligatory fairy cakes of course!” she enthuses. At Daniel’s department store in Windsor, a Royal warrant holder, MD Trudy Durkin highlights that visitors will find celebratory windows congratulating the happy couple. “We’re installing TV screen across the store to ensure that everyone has live coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan’s special day, with our French patisserie chefs making celebratory wedding cakes,” confirms Trudy. “We will also have a wide range of gift products on display to commemorate the Royal Wedding, to include Royal Scott special edition glasses, Caithness special edition paperweights, Halcyon Days mugs and limited edition Royal Windsor bags, along with bookmarks, trinket dishes, tea towels, flags and bunting, as well as many other gift items. So far, everything seems to be selling very well.” Meanwhile, a second Royal wedding is also imminent this year, with Princess Eugenie marrying Jack Brooksbank in October. The wedding will also be held at Windsor Castle. Top: Vinegar Hill is hoping to see commemorative giftware ring up sales. Above: A tea towel from For Richer For Poorer will see profits donated to the homeless of Windsor. Right: Royal Wedding memorabilia will also be available at Daniel’s department store, to include this Milly Green bone china mug.
Harry And Meghan Topple Trump With Royal Wedding masks all the rage, the Royal couple have now overtaken Donald Trump as Maskarade’s bestselling masks. As demand continued to increase in the run-up to the Royal Wedding, Maskarade pressed the button for a further 18,000 masks to go into production. “We love the fact that Donald Trump has been selling so well, but it will be nice to see the top sellers spreadsheet change,” commented Mask-arade’s commercial director Ray Duffy. “The nation has really got behind the new Royal couple and we’re seeing sales rising steadily. In fact, the Royal Wedding’s been a great early boost this year.” Above: In addition to Prince Harry and Meghan, the Mask-arade Royal collection also includes The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince William and Kate, as well as a corgi!
New Kid On The Block
Left: Philip Bier is shown at a Tiger store.
Having sold his share of Tiger UK in 2017, the company’s co-founder, Philip Bier, will be back on the UK’s high streets in May with the first franchise of own label French childrenswear and toy company, ID Kids, which will be opening in Wandsworth’s Southside Shopping Centre in South London. Following on from the demise of Toys R Us earlier this year, and with Mothercare continuing to struggle, Philip, who has set up Bier Brothers with his brother Jacob, is aiming to be the ‘go to’ partner for international retailers looking to get a foot in the door of the UK market place. His long terms goal is to open 50 ID Kids franchises, with Bier Brothers aiming to have six overseas brands by 2023.
New John Lewis Store To Open In a challenging year for John Lewis, and bricks and mortar retail across the board, the department store will be opening its 51st store in Cheltenham on October 18, with ‘partner’ Martin Bundy at the helm. The company has invested £23m in the 115,000 sq ft shop which will offer home, fashion and technology products and services. The opening follows hot on the heels of the new John Lewis store at London’s Westfield. Martin joined the Partnership as a shop floor assistant at the retailer’s Southsea department store 18 years ago, and has since held senior roles in several John Lewis shops including Southampton, Bluewater, Newbury, most recently managing John Lewis’s Chichester shop. Above: John Lewis, Cheltenham.
A Seat At The Table Following on from her visit to the House of Lords Genesis initiative meeting in March, Sarah Ward (right), chief executive of The Giftware Association, was subsequently invited to attend a Fringe Summit in mid-April to discuss SME finance, funding platforms, industry trends and emerging opportunities, particularly in relation to post-Brexit. She was one of only two representatives from the previous Genesis meeting to be invited. April’s meeting was part of the exclusive Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting London 2018 (CHOGM), which was hosted by the UK for the first time, with Sarah there to present the views of the Association’s members.
What’s New At Home & Gift Four new sectors - Taste, Design Now, Made and Design Home & Interiors - will be launched at July’s Home & Gift show in Harrogate, joining the Design-led Gift, Gift, Greetings & Stationery, Home Interiors, and Jewellery and Fashion sectors. The show, which will feature over 1,000 brands, will be opening its doors from July 15-18, with The Great Northern Retail Forum returning. Visit www.homeandgift.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE
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