Character swim is at the forefront of spring campaign, says retailer’s Kate Callender.
Matalan has further underlined its licensing ambitions, revealing its new character swimshop as well as continuing with its store refreshes.
The retailer – which revealed to The Source last year how it wanted to be a ‘destination’ for character – has introduced a variety of swim lines including costumes, surf suits, surf hats, ponchos, towels, swim bags, sunglasses and caps.
Characters already in-store include Spider-Man, Ariel, Minnie and Mickey Mouse, Nemo and The Avengers.
In addition, for the first time Matalan is launching characters outside of the Disney portfolio – PAW Patrol, Peppa Pig, My Little Pony, Batman and Pokémon swim lines are all due to arrive in-store in early March.
The launches will be supported with PR in the lead up to the Easter holidays.
“We aim to be the destination for family holidays and character swim is at the forefront of our spring campaign,” Kate Callender, childrenswear buyer at Matalan, told The Source.
“We are introducing new characters to Matalan such as My Little Pony, Paw Patrol, Pokémon and Peppa Pig. My personal favourites are My Little Pony. We have worked closely with Hasbro and our in-house design using a bright colour palette and a tropical themed style guide for high summer. The range comprises of fashion, swimming costume, towelling poncho and accessories.”
Kate continued: “Our extensive collection of Disney character swim including classics Minnie and Mickey for toddler and Spider-Man, Avengers and The Little Mermaid for older girls and boys, all feature in our spring mailer campaign.
“I love the new photography for The Little Mermaid – this looks completely new for Matalan. We have already seen a great sales reaction and these styles are currently on sale throughout all Matalan stores.”
Meanwhile, Matalan is continuing with its store refreshes – there are 50 planned for this year, with new layouts and fixtures being added.
The Sefton store was one of the first to receive a refresh (pictured above) – with Wavertree in Liverpool being next up.
The retailer’s Character and Disney shops sit side by side, while licensed footwear and homewares – another strong focus for Matalan going forward – also sit in the same area.
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