Hollyoaks stars visited Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet yesterday for the grand opening of the UK’s first U.S. Polo Assn. store.
The global retailer sells sports-inspired lifestyle clothing and first launched in 1890. U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA) and its first UK store is finally open following a two year delay due to the pandemic.
Hollyoaks stars Jennifer Metcalfe and Owen Warner were among the guests at the launch event at the Cheshire Oaks store yesterday (Wednesday, April 20). Polo player and commentator, Karl Ude-Martinez, and reality TV star Matt Peacock were also at the event.
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During yesterday's launch, members of the public were able to browse the rails and get their hands on some of the brand’s clothing. This includes hoodies, sweatshirts, polo shirts, swimwear, jackets and more for both men and women.
Brand Director, Tom Duncan, was also in attendance at the launch. Speaking to the ECHO, Tom said: “In 2020, we designed a shop fit and a concept, and we were ready to sign a lease and launch the Cheshire Oaks store. Then the pandemic arrived.
“We stopped everything that we were doing and we put it aside and said there will be a time we will do this, but at the moment, we’ll put it on hold. Naturally, as things are now, we felt in the position to open up.
“We’re fortunate that U.S. Polo Assn. is nearly a three billion dollar company with 1,300 stores globally. That means we have a robust, clear concept. Our belief for this store was to make sure we opened the strongest concept. We’ve put in digital screens and touch points, because we wanted to make sure that we didn’t short-change Cheshire Oaks. We believe it’s a great scheme.”
All of the digital screens in the store are interchangeable. Tom explained: “It’s all done by our in-house marketing scheme. The screens can also show live sports games in store. Digital is an important channel for the brand as much as brick and mortar is.
“It’s amazing to be here in the store now. You see store designs many times, but until you see it in the flesh and you walk around the store… It's fantastic. For me, that's what retail is about - it’s human interaction between the people, the customers and the product.”
As for the future, the brand hopes to open more stores here in the UK. Tom said: “We’ve got a real ambitious road map. We think there’s a significant opportunity for the brand. We know we’ve got a great customer base in the UK and the brand is well known here which is fantastic. I’d like to say if we didn’t have a double-figure number of stores in the next two to three years, we’d be disappointed.”
The new U.S. Polo Assn. store can be found at Cheshire Oaks, Kinsey Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 9JJ.
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