Westfield Stratford opening marks Olympic countdown

The much anticipated Westfield Stratford City opened this week to a huge fanfare, as the vast mall brought the idea of the London Olympics ever closer. As the only major retail shopping centre to open in the UK in 2011, what perhaps

was most striking was the innovative concepts and layouts, retailers are trying in the face of the challenging and changing retail environment.
 
Amongst the host of big high street names looking to push boundaries include Hobbs, Reiss and Zara; Bill Giouroukos, Director of Operations for Westfield UK/Europe, commented: “Inditex has chosen three exceptional locations it is also opening Pull & Bear and Bershka stores at the centre; not just in terms of visibility and anticipated footfall, but in terms of their surrounding tenant adjacencies.

“Stratford City is keen to establish its own identity in east London with a collection of strong UK and international retailers. We are working closely with all retailers to encourage new innovative store designs and fascias - and Inditex is no different.”

Retailer, Republic, have launched groundbreaking in store technology in their Westfield store; the ‘MiMirror’ system, which allows customers to capture images of different outfits, glasses or other fashion item onto a digital touch screen with an inbuilt camera which doubles as a mirror.

Jo Molineux, Head of Multichannel at Republic, said: “The continued strategic investment in our multi-channel offering reflects our commitment to put our customer at the heart of the brand.

“MiMirror embraces the fact that shopping is a social activity and makes it easier for customers to share their experiences.

“Together with in-store iPads and ‘Click and Collect‘, MiMirror is the latest step in giving our customers more opportunities to create a fun and interactive shopping atmosphere which can be tailored to individual needs.”

Department store John Lewis came up with another new concept for their first new retail store in 20 years; allowing customers to try and test products(including electrical) before buying them. Buying & Brand Director at John Lewis Peter Ruis said: “Inspirational and interactive, the provision of additional services will enable us to get closer to our customers’ needs.”

Besides Inditex, other overseas contigents include French label, The Kooples, and US labels, Tommy Kids and Forever 21(see Linda Chang interview).

Last week Westfield became the first shopping centre to be named as an official sponsor of any Olympics, helping the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) reach its domestic sponsorship target in the process.
 
Locog CEO Paul Deighton called Westfield “a perfect fit” as an Olympic sponsor because it is set to be a major destination for both athletes and spectators during the event.

“Alongside the Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford City is a tangible example of how east London is at the start of an exciting new journey,” he explained. “It is with great pride that this deal takes us to our target of raising £700 million in domestic sponsorship.”