So we gave the people of Fleetwood a reason to come back, and the centre had its best year in 11.
Local faces, big events and a press office that never stopped, for a marina-side outlet eight miles from Blackpool.
The highlights
In 11 years for the centre, in 2016
For the first time in seven years
Record footfall, up nearly 6% on the year before
Retail Business of the Year, Red Rose Awards
We worked across Realm’s portfolio of outlet and shopping centres, and Freeport Fleetwood is where the results stood out. The outlet centre sits on the marina at Fleetwood, anchored at the time by M&S, Next and Gap alongside more than 40 other outlet brands. When Realm took over, its local shoppers were still coming but less often, lapsed customers had stopped coming at all, and the store line-up had not changed in a while. Being outdoors and eight miles north of Blackpool, footfall rose and fell with the seasons and the weather, and almost every tenant was on a turnover lease, so every extra sale mattered to everyone.
We started by finding out why people had stopped coming. Focus groups with regular and lapsed customers, social media analysis, store sales, footfall data, tenant feedback and a brand values session gave us a new strategy for the centre and one tone of voice for everything it said.
Then we built the campaign around the people of Fleetwood. Local people modelled in our fashion shoots, a partnership with the local paper put new-season fashion in front of its readers every quarter, and the Best of British weekend kept footfall high after the school holidays ended. Busking on the bus to promote the Lytham Festival, a Blue Monday hunt for blue hearts and two animatronic T. rexes loose around the centre at Halloween, live with BBC Radio Lancashire, gave the press a reason to keep coming back. We kept every retailer in the loop so they could make the most of each moment, and we wrote the award entries too.
Sales in 2015 were 5% ahead of 2014, total turnover was the highest in ten years, and footfall reached almost 1.3 million, up for the second year running. 2016 went further. From Black Friday the centre saw an 18% increase in sales and a 25% increase in footfall, Christmas week footfall was up 32%, and Sports Direct, Bonmarché and The Body Shop opened, so the centre traded Christmas fully let for the first time in seven years. The Blackpool Gazette reported it as the centre’s best year in 11.
Along the way the centre was named Retail Business of the Year at the Red Rose Awards, won the Large Retailer award at the Radio Wave Culture and Lifestyle Awards, which the public votes for, picked up a Marketing Lancashire award and was shortlisted for the Retail Experience Award at the Lancashire Tourism Awards.
"2015 has been a fantastic year for us at Freeport Fleetwood. I am delighted that we have continued to grow in all areas of the business, building on the success of 2014 to generate our highest turnover for the last ten years."
John Magee, Centre Manager, Freeport Fleetwood (Realm)
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