Press Release
Off To Uni
Sales at Original Factory Shop stores across the UK have soared in September as parents prepared to pack their offspring off to university for the first time. Gone, it seems, are the days when kids got a ‘golden handshake’ as they fled the nest, these days their wings are being clipped and more practical support is being provided as Colin Leggatt of the Original Factory Shop explains:
“We’ve had loads of mums and dads coming in with their sons and daughters to buy them the bare necessities of life, things like towels, bedding, knives and forks, pots and pans and vacuum cleaners, things that they’ve never had to worry about before. Having children is expensive enough for parents these days but we can beat the university challenge of starting from scratch in store for about £50.00.”
The Original Factory Shop also saw an increase in the sales of boxer shorts and bras, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances and dark sunglasses amongst those about to begin a student life.
“Maybe that was in preparation for ‘Freshers’ Week’, or ‘Get Fresh Week’ as it should be called!” comments Colin Leggatt. “Interestingly, sales of deep fat fryers were also at an all time high and we even got lots of grandparents in buying slippers and pyjamas as a farewell present for their grandchildren, although I’m not sure if either will be worn that much when they get to university!”
ENDS
For more information, visit www.theoriginalfactoryshop.co.uk or contact Nancy Jones or Max Wild at Biss Lancaster PR on 0161 236 2277 or Email: nancy.jones@bisslancaster.com
Notes to Editors:
The Original Factory Shop was established in 1969 as part of Peter Black’s selling M&S seconds. In 2005 George Foster joined as CEO with a strong retail track record. Most recently he was chief executive of TJ Hughes and was responsible for taking it from turnover of £60 million to over £200 million.
In December 2007, George successfully led the secondary management buy-out of the company backed by Duke Street Capital. In January 2009, Angela Spindler replaced George Foster as CEO; Angela’s previous role was Managing Director at Debenhams. Before this she spent 10 years at ASDA where she held a number of key board level trading roles and was the Executive Managing Director of the successful George brand. Angela’s early career was with Pedigree Pet foods and Cadbury Schweppes.
The Original Factory Shop has a turnover of over £100 million and aims to grow through an organic growth programme of opening 30 stores per annum.
To service these growth targets, in 2007 the company relocated its warehouse and HQ to a 145,000 sq ft facility in Burnley capable of servicing up to 200 stores.
01 Oct 2009
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