Olympics Afterglow Gives West End Shops A £250 Million Boost – London Evening Standard

Posted on August 13, 2012 by pmkbncscience

A £250 million “Olympic afterglow” will boost the West End as visitors pour into central London following the triumphant conclusion of the Games, retailers said today.

The forecasts, from the New West End Company and Heart of London Business Alliance, come as a clutch of major retailers prepare to open new stores in the coming weeks.

Fashion chains Victoria’s Secret and Burberry open flagship stores on Bond Street and Regent Street next month, while London’s biggest Primark also opens on Oxford Street.

Full article:
Olympics Afterglow Gives West End Shops A £250 Million Boost – London Evening Standard – August 13th 2012
By Russell Lynch
Link to London Evening Standard article

Visa Reports Olympic Consumer Spending Boost – The Guardian

Posted on August 8, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Reports that consumer spending in Britain has crashed as a result of the Olympics look to have been largely unfounded, according to Visa figures that show spending marginally up during the first week of the Games. The credit card supplier said domestic spending on British Visa cards reached £7.4bn last week, up 3.4% on the previous seven days, but only a modest increase of £200m on the same week in 2011.

Spending on cards by international visitors in the UK in the same period rose to £456.9m, an 8% increase on the same week in 2011. Despite reports from retailers and restaurants in London that business has been massively down on previous summers, Visa said spending on its cards by tourists in restaurants across the country was up 19.6% last week to £12.7m.

It seems Usain Bolt hasn’t been alone in hitting the capital’s nightclubs, with Visa saying such spending among foreign cardholders was up 24% to £2.1m last week. Despite the late nights, visitors are still finding time for sightseeing: card spending on attractions and exhibitions was up 12%, it said

Full article:
Visa Reports Olympic Consumer Spending Boost – The Guardian
By Miles Brignall
Link to The Guardian article

Tourists Buy Souvenirs but Shun Luxury Items – Financial Times

Posted on August 2, 2012 by pmkbncscience

A few days into the Olympics, the gifts department at Harrods in central London is witnessing brisk trade as tourists snap up quintessentially British souvenirs such as telephone-box shaped biscuit tins and the store’s green-themed shopping tote bags.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” says Carlos Muñoz, a Spanish visual technician on a working holiday to the games, referring to the lack of congestion on London’s streets and Tube network despite official warnings about travel disruption.

But a couple of floors away, a stroll through the vast womenswear department feels like wandering through an abandoned ballroom, with barely a handful of customers browsing through racks of frocks costing thousands of pounds.

Full article:
Tourists Buy Souvenirs but Shun Luxury Items – Financial Times – August 1st, 2012
By: Jennifer Thompson
Link to Financial Times article

London Retailers Bemoan Loss of Trade as Shoppers Stay Away – The Guardian

Posted on July 31, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Shop owners, market traders and restaurateurs in central London have said their livelihoods are at risk as tourists and locals continue to stay away for the Olympics. Experian, the research group, said stores in the city centre had suffered a sharp drop in footfall at the start of the Games. The number of people visiting shops on Friday, before the opening ceremony, was down more than 10% on a year ago and off by nearly 12% on Saturday.

Full article:
London Retailers Bemoan Loss of Trade as Shoppers Stay Away – The Guardian – July 31, 2012
By: Zoe Wood and Lizzy Davies
Link to The Guardian article

Olympics Publicity Boots Consumer Demand – The Financial Times

Posted on May 26, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Olympics-related publicity has boosted the appetite for British products among luxury-hungry consumers in China and India, according to new research.

More than 60 per cent of respondents in the two countries said they wanted to buy more British products because of publicity around the games, according to the survey from Deloitte, the professional service firm, while 80 per cent said they were more likely to visit the UK.

Full article:
Olympics Publicity Boots Consumer Demand – The Financial Times – May 26, 2012
By: Vanessa Kortekaas
Link to The Financial Times article

Games Begin on Streets of Mayfair

Posted on March 9, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Brands such as Burberry, Fendi and Salvatore Ferragamo are spending tens of millions of pounds upgrading and extending their central London stores to look their best for an expected 11m Olympic tourists this summer…The Games have added to London’s momentum as a fashion capital, and high-fashion names that have already landed here include watchmaker Omega, which is an Olympic sponsor, and Coach, a US luxury leather goods label.

Full Article:
Games Begin on Streets of Mayfair – Financial Times – Feb. 28, 2012
By Claer Barrett & Arash Massoudi
Link to FT Article
Article posted is original FT article as picked up by The Indian Express

A Brief Flux In Luxe

Posted on February 21, 2012 by pmkbncscience

Right up until the week of the 2011 Royal Wedding, public and media opinion seemed stacked against it: too much disruption, too much overbearing security, too few people who care… etc. But by the actual day itself, London remembered something: just how much it enjoys an excuse to have a drink and let its hair down. And so went on to fully embrace the festivities – including, despite the “austere” times, a significant bump in luxury goods sales. Of course, brands most associated with the wedding itself were the biggest beneficiaries – from dress designer Alexander McQueen to Launer, maker of the Queen’s buttercup handbag. But general sales of luxury goods also rose 6.9% according to the British Retail Consortium, from obvious items like champagne to weather-specific items like garden furniture and picnic hamper food. All based, remember, on a single decent weekend of weather. So assuming the sun holds out for the duration of the Games – a depressingly big “if” – the effect could be multiplied. And if British medal hopes are realised, the effect could be even bigger – with opportunities for classic premium British brands to make an impact.

Key Questions

- Is it the most quintessentially British brands who will most reap the reward at the Games? Or is it more modern, design-lead British companies?
- The World Cup in South Africa had the vuvuzela horn – is there a Britishism that has the ability to break out during the Games?

PMK•BNC Science Series

Beyond The Games: How Popular Culture Is Shaped By A Mega-Event

Category Archives: A Brief Flux in Luxe

Tourists Buy Souvenirs but Shun Luxury Items – Financial Times