Clothing the Olympians PDF
The Co-operative Clothing headed off to the Olympia Beauty Show in London over the weekend of the 18th of September. Continuing the success of the previous shows, with stock packed and vans filled, the team set off with hopes of making this event the most successful to date.
Masterminding the trip to London was Dionne Moy, Sales and Marketing Manager, along with Shaun McCoy, Marketing Co-ordinator and the Sales Team of Anthony Davison, Cherelle Hailes, Mandy Jordan and Steph Pearson. Early Saturday morning the convoy set off on the long trip south.
Excluding a closed motorway and a two hour diversion, the team made it to London in one piece without too many difficulties. With the easy part over, the team got down to the real hard work, setting up the stand ready for the grand opening the following day.
Dyaks, the company in charge of building the stand were busy putting the finishing touches towards it when the Clothing team arrived. Work began on stocking the stall with great vigour as there was only 4 hours to have it ready for the following morning. Organising what is in essence a small shop in the space of a few hours is no mean task. Tills fitted, stock hung and organised, store rooms filled with garments, this was nothing short of a military exercise. Never the less, the exhausted team managed to get the stand looking ship shape in what seemed no time at all.
Once the ordeal of travelling and prepping the stand were over, the team were finally ready to book into their hotel twelve hours after setting off from home. Tired but brimming with excitement for the next day, the team was happy to have an early night.
“After a long, tiring trip to London I finally arrived at the magnificent London Olympia building and the adrenalin kicked in for the weekend ahead. I was very excited to see what was in store and I love the buzz from a busy exhibition. The stand looked great and I went back to the hotel to prepare myself for the hard but rewarding work the Exhibition will bring.” said an excited Steph.
Following a well deserved rest, and a breakfast choice of scrambled egg ‘n’ sausage or scrambled egg or sausage, the team were ready to take on the world, or at least 10,000 beauticians and salon owners!
With the stand and staff looking pristine, the doors were opened to the public and the first of the two day exhibition was underway. Along with The Co-operative Clothing, there were another 330 stands and stalls, all selling their wares and trying to get their share of the visitors cash.
Along with clothing companies, there was a huge variety of other vendors selling everything from self tan and nail varnish to dermatological goods and tooth whitening products.
Aurora by The Co-operative Clothing was enjoying it’s third outing in the consumer market in the space of five month, with the Olympia Show being the second based in the capital in that short time. The stall, with four new bespoke hanging rails making their debut, was chock full of the Aurora range of tunics, with every colour, style and size available for sale. As well as the new range of tunics there were trousers, sashes and brooches to choose from, and the old classics like the Jasmine and the Zena to sell too.
As expected the day was incredibly busy, with team members having to serve two or three customers at a time. The word hectic doesn’t quite cover it! Having to find stock, take orders and deal with queries all at the same time is a good way of making the hours fly over.
“That reminded me of my student days, working in the bar!” Shaun said exhaustedly, “It was constantly busy, running around trying to keep on top of things. Hard work but a good laugh, bring on day two!”
Where as day one is dedicated to companies and owners of salons and such, day two is dedicated to colleges, lecturers and students. Both days being as busy as each other. Once the doors close to the public at the end of day one, it is down to the team to replenish the stand and make it look presentable again for the following day. Unfortunately, there is only a one hour window for this so again, it’s all hand’s on deck!
Cherelle, who is new to the exhibition scene said “I thought my first day was brilliant. The busy environment made you feel awake and alert. It was great to see how all the other companies varied their sales techniques. I really enjoyed how manic it was and can’t wait for our next show.”
Day two begins with the same intensity, with a constant flow of students and lecturers flitting from tunic to tunic and the team running round, attending to every question and query.
The surprise big hit of this show has been the wrap around waistcoats. The girls on the stand have been sporting them for both days and most of the stock in both the long and short was snapped up on the opening day. By the end of day two, with the stand looking quite sparse due to fantastic sales, the team are ready to head home. Just the small matter of packing up all the stock, mannequins, hangers, bags, etc. and getting it back on the vans. The hard work is almost over! All that is left to do is to travel the 240 mile home but that can be left for another day!
Early indications show the exhibition has been the most successful to date with cash sales in excess of the
previous two shows, plus many orders ready to process once the team is back in the office. Everyone is very pleased with how the show went.
Anthony stated, “It’s very important as it gets the company profile out to colleges, beauty salons and members of the public. Also it’s a good chance to meet people face to face and it gives us the chance to capture larger accounts. This will then develop the sales for the new business department which is fantastic for The Co-operative Clothing. “
Leaving the last words to Dionne, “The Olympia beauty show was a huge success. It was great to receive positive feedback from the visitors at the show. They told us that they loved the Aurora range not just because we have variety of styles and colour but also because of the wide selection of sizes available and the extremely competitive pricing.”
“The stand was constantly busy with visitors and we came home with lots of new leads for colleges and salons and have worked none stop this past week following the new leads up. This was the third and most successful show so far, we have beaten the first day and total weekend takings record which is a big thumbs up and pat on the back to all the clothing team who have taken part and have made these shows possible. We are now working hard and keeping up the momentum for the next show. Let’s hope it’s another record breaker!"