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YOU NEED TO KNOW
Chain aims to double to 100-plus outlets
The boss of Midcounties Co- operative Travel wants to double its retail estate and remains open for dialogue with Thomas Cook when the Co-op joint venture expires in September. Asked about the likelihood
Some Midcounties Co-op shops are to gain Pure Luxury window branding and Travel 2 and Gold Medal-dedicated brochure racks
Midcounties plans luxury stores in new dnata tie-up
Amie Keeley
amie.keeley@
travelweekly.co.uk
The Midcounties Co-operative Travel is to create luxury stores in partnership with long-haul brands Gold Medal and Travel 2.
It will be the first time the group
has teamed up with the dnata- owned trade-only operators to rebrand existing stores in affluent areas into luxury holiday specialist branches. Stores in Leamington Spa, Solihull and Worcester have been earmarked, with plans to have Gold Medal’s Pure Luxury branding taking over shop windows along with weekly offers from the operator. The luxury outlets will feature
Gold Medal and Travel 2-dedicated brochure racks and walls.
Full-shop refurbishments, with new furniture, lighting and decor, are also in the pipeline. Eventually, all Midcounties shops
will feature some form of branded rack and overbranded brochures. Gold Medal and Travel 2 sales
already account for more than 20% of the group’s long-haul business. The new partnership is expected to boost this to 25% in the first year. Andy Freeth, dnata UK’s B2B managing director, said this was the first time the operators had formed a branding partnership with an agency chain at this level. “This is a big step forward in
our relationship and shows the commitment from both sides,” he said. “We are happy to invest in Midcounties’ business. Its commitment to showing our
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travelweekly.co.uk 16 June 2016
“Our retail stores will welcome the move and already see them as a perfect partner”
products in a consistent way across its network will continue its growth curve. “We have identified a handful
of shops that would benefit from our Pure Luxury brand in their windows because of the affluent client base in those areas.” Freeth emphasised there was
no appetite to promote Gold Medal and Travel 2 to consumers and said he hoped Pure Luxury would entice customers into the shops. He said the investment in the partnership would run into “tens of thousands”. Speaking exclusively to Travel
of acquiring some of the 250 shops from the joint venture, group general manager Alistair Rowland said: “We have a very good relationship with Cook. “We laid our stall out to be their best and most consistent distributor and have ambition to grow further. “We have always been and
remain open for dialogue when and if Cook chooses to adapt its distribution strategy. We intend to develop in towns that match our retail footprint, following successful new branches in Tamworth and Stafford. We have the ambition to double the size of retail estate.” Midcounties has 57 branches across central England.
Weekly at the Institute of Travel & Tourism Conference last week, Julie Kendrick, Midcounties’ head of commercial and marketing, said: “Gold Medal and Travel 2 are very proactive in helping Midcounties grow our long-haul sales. “The investment and support
into marketing has been consistent. Our retail stores will welcome the move and already see [the brands] as perfect partners.” Midcounties has already
overbranded a number of brochures with Gold Medal – a move that Kendrick said had been “extremely successful” for Florida sales. Freeth said he would be happy to consider similar relationships
with other agencies. › ITT Conference, page 16 › Midcounties, page 70
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