Glendale Show – the Pop -Up Shopping Mall

With the decline of the high street, we look at the important role which one rural show provides as a business platform for retailers and producers.

On Bank Holiday Monday, Glendale Show will see thousands of pounds worth of goods traded on its many stalls and stands. The popularity of these, with both sellers and shoppers, raises the question – is the Country Show, the Country High Street of the future?

There are many exhibitors at rural shows, and for some sectors of the economy, attending is an important business decision, however they also know such an event also provides an important trading opportunity which often cannot be replicated elsewhere. In many instances the high street presence of shoppers is in decline, and people just do not come out to browse or buy. So, for the many artisan businesses who cannot afford a permanent high street presence, the show is godsend.

To attend at Glendale means businesses knowing that they may reach a captive audience of thousands of people in one day. Accordingly, each year the Show attracts in the region of 200 trades stands, representing all sectors, from food producers to clothing companies, from tools and machinery sales, to bespoke craft makers – the list is comprehensive, with tens of thousands of pounds being traded.

The show provides a retail opportunity and an almost captive audience for your products. This is a unique feature of Glendale Show’s Pop-up Shopping Experience – denied to internet shoppers, and easily avoided by high street browsers.

Giving background Rachael Tait Show Secretary says: “As an organisation we know that we are providing an important trading environment and that is why so many businesses of all sizes travel to attend from far afield, as well as those from the doorstep.

Pop-up shops and restaurant are totally on trend and here at Glendale Show we have our very own pop-up shopping Mall in the country. I strongly believe that we play a key role within the rural trading economy, which will be integral to the next revolution in retailing in rural Britain.”

Stephanie Louise Design is one local business with a shop on Wooler High Street [Stephanie Louise Design, 75 High Street Wooler] who comes to the show regularly.

“I first took a stand when I started my business three years ago and it is without a doubt a great environment to both sell and showcase my designs. Throughout the day I definitely sell a week’s worth of goods compared to if I were in my own shop on the High Street.”

“For both taking revenue and gaining feedback it is certainly worthwhile. It is manic throughout the day and I meet a lot of new customers. Some people discover me and do not realise I am based in Wooler, even when they are local to the area. What is also interesting is that as a direct result from engaging with people at the Show a lot of new sales are generated in the shop in the following few days.

For many people Glendale Show is the ideal event to launch a new product or design to a captive and wide audience. It is also a means of researching and testing a new product on the marketplace – what better way to get feedback on your bespoke gin, hand-crafted cheese or local recipe game pie?
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Squelch Wellies, fun and funky children’s socks and wellies based in Alnwick in Northumberland is one such company. Launched less than two months ago, without a high street frontage, owner Amanda Wooldridge tells us why she isso keen to attend:

“We are an online company, so it is about exposure to the market, and Glenda

le Show is the perfect place to promote, sell and showcase our products. From a business perspective we know that it will be a positive experience because we get to meet, and talk to the general public, thus gaining really important feedback and ideas about our brand, which we can learn from and capitalise on going forward. It is the ideal research platform for us.”

“Of course as a brand-new company – the stock only arrived on the 1st July, having access to in the region of 12,000 people is a perfect way of generating the all-important sales and getting us talked about – word-of-mouth is so vital.”

“When we launched, we started only with children’s socks and wellies, but as a direct result of talking to customers at two other festivals, we have already commissioned different styles of children’s wellies, and are no looking at adult sizes.”

The gates for Glendale Show open at 9am Monday August 26th and advance tickets may be purchased online at a reduced rate at www.glendaleshow.com. Tickets are priced at £14, and children go free.

-ENDS-

Media Contact: Glendale PR & Marketing, T: 01668 283 044 E: [email protected]