Flying start to the year for The Valley, Evesham: Q1 Retail Review
Sales and footfall buck national trends
Q1 2019 trading saw The Valley buck national trends by posting a footfall rise of 4.26% against the same period in 2018. Importantly, the increased footfall has transmitted to greater sales with our total visitor spend up by a significant margin of 14.03%. As online shopping disrupts the overall sector, we believe destination retail schemes like The Valley, aided by our welcoming family-friendly outdoor focus, busy calendar of events, accessibility and free parking gives us greater resilience than high streets.
The Valley also benefits from a retail mix that is underpinned by popular British lifestyle brands such as Barbour, Fat Face, Hunter and Tog 24, as well as forward-thinking retailers Boardman Bikes and Crafter’s Companion who drive additional footfall into their stores with open days, workshops, and of course, the Boardman Bike Wind-tunnel and Performance Centre.
By popular demand: The Valley extends its opening times.
The nights are getting lighter and at The Valley, the opening times are getting longer. From the 1st April , we will be open until 6pm six days a week from Monday to Saturday.
This comes after a survey of shoppers at The Valley revealed that there was a real appetite for extended opening hours, with 77% of respondents saying that they would like to see the retail and leisure destination stay open for longer. There’s no excuse for shoppers not being aware of the change with our aeroplane banner flyover around Worcestershire and bus advertising in the newly designed ‘DISCOVER’ concept throughout the county.
The shift to these extended opening hours doesn’t just reflect steadily increasing footfall at The Valley,
but also how our demographic is changing. Unsurprisingly, given our location just off the Evesham bypass, more and more of our visitors are popping in on the way home from work in nearby towns, whether that’s to purchase new clothes, pick up something for the home or enjoy a leisurely coffee and cake at the end of the day. These longer opening hours will allow us to cater for this audience better and give them more time to enjoy everything we have to offer at The Valley - meaning good news for our customers and our retailers too!
Boardman Bikes to launch new bike range at Asparagus Run
The Valley will be hosting our annual charity colour run on Sunday 19th May, and this week Boardman Bikes announced that they would be taking advantage of the high numbers of visitors on the day to launch their exciting new bike ranges.
B2B annual cycle ride set fo a trip to Beer!
The Eagle One annual charity cycle challenge kicks-off in July with a two day 200-mile cycle from The Boardman Performance Centre here at The Valley, to the stunning East Devon fishing village of Beer. The aim of the challenge is simple - to bring people together with a love of cycling and the opportunity to raise money for great causes. Future destinations include Brighton, Belfast and Bordeaux.
If you would like to get involved please follow this link: www.eagle-one.co.uk/annual-charity-cycle-challenge
