Matthew Stephens expecting a bumper Christmas

Irish retailer Matthew Stephens said it is expecting a record Christmas this year.

The luxury watch store in Limerick has invested in renovations over the past year that managing director Matthew Ryan believes have paid off.

He told WatchPro: "We have invested heavily and had lots of renovations throughout the year on various areas of the store so we would be very disappointed if we don’t have a record Christmas. Early signs have been very positive with November well up, thanks to holding very successful customer events. The first week in December has also been extremely positive so it’s all shaping up as hoped.

"Our big investment was in our festive decorations and lights, which have received an incredible response. They cost a fortune but look amazing and it helps our brand building and really add to the festive atmosphere."

Matthew Stephens has invested in a multichannel marketing strategy this year, sending out its catalogue to 50,000 homes and businesses in its local area and advertising in national magazines, local newspapers as well as proactively pushing its social media pages. The retailer now has 17,000 likes on its Facebook page.

The retailer said that Michael Kors has been a strong watch brand for it this Christmas, describing sales as "incredible".

It also said that a new luxury watch window display has helped to raise the profile of brands in higher price brackets.

Ryan said: "We fitted a new luxury watch window display earlier in the year. This includes new LED lighting and also much larger shelf areas for each brand to be merchandised in a minimalist way that really draws in the customer. It has really helped in recent months especially with higher end brands like Omega, Longines and Rado so we are expecting lots of great sales in the coming weeks."

Matthew Stephens said that Christmas accounts for 25% of its watch sales, and that only the weather could prevent "a bumper Christmas". The strong festive season comes off the back of a year of strong performance at the store.

Ryan said: "We have worked very hard in 2013 and we are delighted to say that we are now getting the rewards. Seeing the results it encourages us to keep working and we now have very exciting plans in place for 2014 with phase two of the renovations starting, in an effort to attract some of the world’s luxury brands to Matthew Stephens."
 

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