Bluewater celebrates bumper footfall weekend
The Bluewater shopping centre was visited by more than 320,000 shoppers from Friday to Sunday, its first weekend of the Christmas season, with a 10% increase in footfall on Friday alone compared to the same day last year.
The shopping centre attributed the success to the launch of its new ‘Christmas is here’ campaign, which coincided with the turning on of Bluewater’s Christmas lights by X-Factor’s Jahmene Douglas and Tamera Foster on Friday evening. The event also included a one-off concert for 12,000 guests headlined by Douglas. Other performers included Justin Fletcher from CBeebies, Only the Young, and the London Community Gospel Choir.
Bluewater said its retailers reported strong sales across a number of categories. Top sellers included fashion, luxury gifts, accessories, and health, beauty and cosmetics. Recent additions to Bluewater, such as Jack Wills, Reebok and The East India Company, were also a key draw, alongside the new TopShop statement store.
Robert Goodman, Bluewater’s general manager, said: “Our theme this year is ‘Christmas is here’, and this weekend saw that brought to life. The increased volume of guests at Bluewater for the light switch on concert on Friday night was sustained throughout Saturday and Sunday, and guests were clearly enjoying starting their Christmas shopping in earnest.”
Bluewater’s ‘Christmas is here’ offer will receive a further boost later this month when the Winter Wonderland opens in the events venue’s upper hall. Returning for the third year running, the Winter Wonderland includes Bluewater’s largest-ever Santa’s grotto, ice rink and other visitor attractions.
