Hundreds of new collections, monthly shopping trips to Italy, regular fashion shoots, the introduction of unique and original furniture from Bali along with an increase in wholesale customers has helped to make 2017 an amazing year for Goose Island. As a result of an increase in sales combined with an unprecedented growth in trade customers, in the summer we relocated to larger warehouse premises in the Enterprise park to accommodate the need for holding increased stock.
In November, we also opened the doors of a new Goose Island shop in Carmarthen Street, Llandeilo.
This investment is part of the company’s ethos of offering local people a personal and high-quality shopping experience as well as a range of unique ladies fashion designs, the majority of which are made in Italy.
Retail Award
In October, we were delighted to win the fashion and accessories retailer category in the inaugural Welsh Independent Retail Awards which were held in Cardiff. These awards recognise the value of independent retailers to the communities they operate within; showcasing the diversity within the industry, recognising and rewarding the entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen which lies behind the thriving Welsh independent retailers.
Face of Goose Island
Earlier in the year, we launched a competition to find the ‘Face of Goose Island’ for our Spring/Summer 2017 Collection. We were inundated with entries for this competition from models of all ages. We shortlisted the entries down to 10 finalists who attended a casting at the Liberty Stadium back in January. The test shots were carried out with the models having simple hair styles and no make up to see how confident they were in front of a camera. The overall winner of the competition was Mary-Anne Petrinolis from Swansea, pictured left.
Fashion Shows and Charities
Over 1000 members of the Glamorgan WI headed to Mumbles to attend two-weeks full of fashion shows at the Norton House Hotel in Mumbles, and Goose Island was once again delighted to be involved in this event along with Solo. The fashion shows took place during May 2017 and, following each show, the members of the WI were transported to the Goose Island and Solo shops where they had a chance to browse the clothes featured in the fashion shows.
In December, we were also pleased to be involved with the MacMillan Cancer Charity Fashion show that raised in excess of £3,000 for such a worthy cause.
We also donated jewellery, accessories and clothing to Cancer Research UK when we relocated to our new warehouse.
The donation, with a retail value of around £10,000, to be sold in the charity’s shops that are based across South West Wales as brand new items.
New Year
In 2018, we are planning to build on this year’s successes by increasing our presence across South Wales as well as developing our online presence.
On that note, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal customers and trade clients a very happy and successful New Year.