28 CHRISTMAS
For visitors, the snowglobe is cheaper than most grottos at £8
“Mall space is at a premium over Christmas so enlivening an empty unit is an added benefit”
snowglobe, supplied by partners Photographic Synergy, in which
up to six people can have their photograph taken by a professional photographer. The photos can be bought in a presentation folder and
distributed to friends and family as a Christmas card. The global phenomenon, which appeared on Dragon’s Den
last year, has been installed in 30 UK shopping centres including Bluewater, thecentre:mk and The Liberty shopping centre in Romford as well as Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland, Gatwick Airport, Harrods and Topshop on London’s Oxford Street. Fifteen shopping centres in the UK and Ireland have pre-booked
for Christmas 2011 and the company has also been commissioned to manufacturer the largest snowglobe in Europe, a 70 ft version holding 40-50 people at a time, in Lisbon, Portugal. Alistair Heelas is managing director at JBL Leisure. “The idea was
developed from a handheld snowglobe and the design is based on a twin-lock diving chamber,” he explains. “They’re a simple design and we found that we could manufacturer good quality ones in the UK at a reasonable cost.”
SHOPPING CENTRE February 2011
www.shopping-centre.co.uk
for a group of six and can help to increase dwell times because, with a 360 degree view, people stop and look. “Predominantly shopping centres have grottos for Christmas
but they only appeal to children aged between 2-8 years old,” he says. “It’s rather stale and it’s expensive having to employ a Father Christmas and rely on the actor. They don’t really make money anymore and they take up lots of space. “The snowglobes have been very successful and the feedback has been immense – everyone loves them.” The standard size – 3.75m base and 4m height – is £10,000 and
can be erected by two people in just one hour. Other sizes include a mini version for space saving – which still
holds six people but is a third smaller than the standard size – and autoglobe, used by car manufacturers for promotions. Highcross had a similar giant bauble in the centre for the four days leading up to Christmas. “The bauble was really successful,” says Holland. “It was in a main mall location so people were continuously getting in and trying it out. It brought a seasonal sense of entertainment to the mall.” MetroCentre in Gateshead trialled several new experiential
activities last year, moving away from the animated displays it used to have at Christmas time. “It used to take hours to write the music and sync everything,”
says the centre’s marketing manager Karen Carr. “In the end we found that the kids wanted more so last year we had an interactive play area instead and it proved really popular.” The children’s disco booth had a juke box with a choice of 10
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60