[19
JAN 01] CITY
CENTRE COMPANY NEWS
Christmas Push Voted A
Hit By Traders
City
centre traders have given Coventry's Christmas push the thumbs up as they
believe it has put them on a level playing field with out-of-town rivals.
The
City Centre Company and Coventry City Council launched a major advertising
and marketing campaign in the run up to the festive trading period, backed
by a string of special car parking offers for shoppers.
The
parking initiative proved so popular that it has been extended until the
end of the month, while the advertising and marketing will continue
through the spring.
The
City Centre Company has commenced follow up work on the campaign and has
had a very positive feedback from member stores.
Arcadia,
which has Top Shop, Principles, Burton and Evans among its eight outlets
in the city centre, did very well over the Christmas period with a sharp
up-turn on last year's trade.
Vi
Sheldon, senior manager for Evans and representative for Arcadia, believes
the free parking scheme helped with sales and has put Coventry on a level
playing field with its out-of-town competitors.
She
said:
"It
was a very good Christmas for Arcadia as a group in the city centre.
Trade was well up on previous years and the free parking scheme was a
major factor in that.
"Coventry
has much more to offer than places like the Fort in Birmingham - it is
just a case of attracting people to the city centre with things like
free parking to make them realise that there is much more choice here.
"The
City Centre Company managed to get people here by letting them know that
Coventry was a good place to shop.
"The
Sunday markets were introduced in the late autumn and complimented the
free parking scheme that was already running on a Sunday in certain car
parks. I think we need to keep these kind of initiatives going if we are
to continue the trend from what was a very good Christmas."
John
Henry, Allders' Store Director, was "very encouraged" by the
trading in his department store over the holiday period.
"I
cannot make comparisons with the previous year because that was the
Millennium and was therefore a one-off situation, but trading this year
was very encouraging, helped to a great extent by the decision to allow
free car parking in the city centre.
"The
Sunday market was also a big draw and brought hundreds, if not
thousands, more people into the city centre on Christmas Eve which
helped all traders.
"I
think from my store's point of view, we also gained benefits from our
newly refurbished ground floor, which did particularly well."
Shirley
Kent, marketing and communications manager for the City Centre Company,
said the priority was to keep the momentum going.
"We
feel we made considerable headway in the run up to Christmas and we have
certainly been given very positive feedback. The initiative, supported
by Coventry City Council, was two-fold - to retain our customers in the
face of stiff competition while at the same time attracting shoppers who
don't normally use Coventry.
"We
are now deciding how to carry the campaign forward."
The
first hour's parking is free in the eight car parks - West Orchards,
Barracks, the ground floor of Leigh Mills, Pool Meadow, Belgrade, Bond
Street, Queen Victoria Road and Greyfriars East - will carry on until the
end of January, while free parking in the Barracks on weekdays after 2pm
will run indefinitely.
Sunday
parking in the Barracks and West Orchards is also free all year round.
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