Retailers’S Toolkit – Suggested Contents

CELEBRATE LONDIS’ 50TH ANNIVERSARY

1 CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Quotes from Londis retailers A series of quotes from Londis retailers, giving advice and relaying experiences.

3. Organising a street party Key objectives to help make the party run smoothly as follows:

 Set a date  Set your budget  Party activities  Red tape  Decoration  Invitations  Spread the word  Photography  The weather

4. Celebration ideas Ideas to maximise noise around the official Londis birthday in October as follows:

 1950s theme  1950s prices  Local schools and clubs  Shop floor fun  Media activity  Local charity  Your history

5. Templates A series of press materials to help achieve media coverage as follows:

 Timeline of key brand achievements  Street party press release  Draft invitation letter  Photocall notice for birthday event  Local school press release

2 1. INTRODUCTION

October 1959 was a significant month. To set the scene, Harold MacMillan and the Conservatives won the election and a space probe returned with historic, never-before-seen views of the far side of the moon. However the most significant date to us was 16 of October 1959, the day that Londis was established.

The name Londis was derived from ‘London District Stores’ and the company was set up to unite the buying power of numerous small grocers in the London area. At the time there were 200,000 independent grocers in the UK and Londis provided strength in negotiations with suppliers. Over time came a warehouse, advisory schemes and promotional programmes. The rest, as they say, is history. With the company going from strength to strength, in 2009 Londis now totals more than 1,800 stores across GB.

We’re proud to have served our retailers for 50 years. Now you can show your local community how proud you are to serve them and share the festivities of this important milestone. From hosting a street party to throwing a golden celebration, you can invite your customers to an unforgettable 50th birthday event.

We have produced this toolkit with a host of golden ideas and top tips to create a birthday bonanza. We’d love to share your celebrations with others. Simply send in your stories and photos showing how you have celebrated the anniversary. These will be featured in a special supplement of Londis News later this year.

Send your photos to:

Rosie McFarlane or Kate Smith Communications manager Musgrave Retail Partners GB Musgrave House Widewater Place Moorhall Road Harefield Middlesex UB9 6NS

Or email: [email protected] or [email protected]

3 2. QUOTES FROM LONDIS RETAILERS

Sunder Sandher, Londis, Leamington Spa: “We’ve run street parties before and my word of advice would be to prepare well in advance. It’s important to talk to the local council beforehand. And don’t forget to invite your local mayor and MP to come along and get the local schools involved. It can be great fun!”

Raj Aggarwal, Londis, Leicester: “We’re planning a street party with community fund raising as a key part of the event. We’ll be booking face painters, balloon artists and a bouncy castle, as we did with our store opening. We’ll be looking for supplier engagement too and making sure that we’ve got some music, to draw a crowd.”

Steve Bassett, Londis, Weymouth: “We plan to raffle some bikes for kids to celebrate the Londis 50th. We sponsor the local football team, so we’ll be getting them involved with our festivities too and be decorating the store with as much bunting and balloons as we can.”

Barrie Seymour, Londis, Liversedge: “We always like to create window displays for big occasions, so the Londis 50th is the perfect opportunity for us to come up with some ideas to catch the attention of people outside the store. We’ve already booked a big Fosters barbeque to raffle.”

Steve Robb, Londis, Motherwell: “Our staff will be dressing up for the occasion and we’ll definitely decorate the store to create some atmosphere. We’ll invite suppliers to offer samplings too.”

Rob Clifford, Londis, Torpoint: “We’ll be celebrating the Londis 50th by decorating our forecourt store with all the decorations available from Londis, like bunting and balloons.”

4 3. ORGANISING A STREET PARTY

Celebrate the anniversary with simple community activities and organise a street party. Below is a list of ideas to help make the party run smoothly and ensure your store stands out from the crowd.

Set a date Sounds obvious, but it is important to set a date as early as possible. Try to draft a time plan so that you don’t miss any key deadlines. Also consider the option of setting a particular time ie. 3-5pm or running the street party all day.

Set your budget How much money do you wish to spend on the event? This will help decide what you can and cannot do.

Party activities Co-ordinate fun family activities to encourage people to come along. Try to include something for everyone, for example:

 Tastings of food and wine  Barbecue  Competitions - guess the cake weight to the most glamorous granny  Raise money for a local charity with a raffle  Live music  Dance music from disco to tea dancing  Display photos showing the history of the street or neighbourhood  Bouncy castle  Face painting  Provide a goal for football target shooting  Hire a basketball net or swing ball

You’ll know from experience what will work best for your store. Always remember to provide enough chairs for more elderly or less-able attendees.

Red tape Contact your local council and advise them of your plans. You may need permission from the council if the street party has an impact on traffic or pedestrians. There may also be restrictions on how loud the music can be played and until what time. Councils vary a lot in what arrangements they require, so give as much notice as possible. Councils can require up to 12 weeks notice! The council will also advise whether you need to consult emergency services.

Also, make sure you check with your local council whether you need public liability insurance.

Don’t be put off by the red tape, the council will steer you through this. Alternatively, visit www.streetparty.org.uk for further advice.

Decoration Musgrave has produced branded decorations including balloons and bunting to make your street party look ‘the business’. Special Londis anniversary cups, plates and napkins have also been produced. Once you have an idea on the number of attendees, simply email [email protected] with the required quantity.

Invitations

5 Decide who you would like to invite, for example, special customers, clubs and associations, head teachers of local schools etc. In addition, send invitations to key community figures such as MPs and local celebrities (see template letter). Don’t forget to invite the local newspapers and radio stations. And lastly, if you deal with local farms, consider extending the invitation to suppliers. They may even bring some animals for the children to pet at the party!

The key thing to remember is to give enough notice, especially for VIPs, as their diaries get booked up well in advance.

Spread the word Consider putting posters in-store to advertise the street party. Approach local schools, clubs and church halls to place a poster on their notice boards. The majority of notice boards are free and provide an excellent route to reach the local community.

Photography Take pictures at the party and send these to your local newspapers and radio stations to gain coverage following the event (see press release template). Don’t forget to also send photos to Musgrave.

The weather! Britain’s weather is never predictable. Make sure you have a weather contingency plan ie. is there anything you could use to cover up the table if it rains, are there any activities that could be done in-store etc.

Most of all, enjoy the day!

6 4. CELEBRATION IDEAS

Londis’ actual birthday is 16 October. Here are some more ideas to help you celebrate the golden anniversary.

1950s theme Create in-store theatre. Play 1950s’ music during the birthday week. Buddy Holly, Elvis and Cliff Richard were all big stars in this era. To make a real impact dress staff in 1950s’ clothes or as famous people from the 1950s. Some costume ideas are as follows:

Marilyn Monroe – don a blonde wig, red lipstick and the famous white halter neck dress with full skirt.

Audrey Hepburn – check out the classic movie, 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' and wear a long black sleeveless dress, chunky pearl necklace, tiara, long black gloves and hold the unforgettable cigarette in holder.

Frank Sinatra – simply wear a suit, tie and hat with a band around it, worn on a tilt.

Young Elvis - slick back your hair, apply fake side burns and wear a long jacket, black shirt and baggy trousers. A good accessory is, of course, a guitar.

The Barbie doll - wear a blonde wig, pretty pink dress and matching lipstick, fake eyelashes and pink high heels to complete the outfit.

1950s prices In 1959, a daily newspaper cost 2d (less than 1p) and a large bottle of tomato ketchup cost 2/3d (11p). Consider rolling back prices of certain items in store to prices 50 years ago.

Local schools and clubs Link up with a local school, club or association to create a time capsule to be opened in 50 years’ time. Insert a newspaper, canned food, photos of the store etc. Invite the media to take a photograph to achieve coverage in the local paper.

Run a competition asking school children to draw the environmentally friendly shop of the future. Offer a prize of a party for the winner or winning class.

Alternatively, organise an in-store competition for your customers’ children to colour in a picture of a birthday cake or make the best birthday card. These could be displayed in the shop window.

Media activity Give the first 50 customers a free miniature bottle of champagne or birthday cake.

Or invite all customers sharing a birthday on the same day to a store party.

Share the golden celebration with a local couple celebrating their 50th anniversary. Co-ordinate a photocall in-store, opening bottles of champagne together!

Deliver hampers to local radio stations and newspapers. Send a press release informing the local media of the festivities planned.

Local charity Make a special 50th anniversary hamper with celebratory food and wine such as chocolates and champagne. Raffle the hamper in store to raise money for charity. Alternatively, donate it to

7 the charity as a prize at one of their events. When you donate the hamper, or a cheque, remember to take a photograph to send to your local paper.

Your history Investigate the history of your own store. How long has the outlet been a grocers? When did it first become a shop? For example, has your store has been a grocery store since the 17th or 18th century?

Prices and fashions have certainly changed, but everyone continues to buy food and they enjoy buying it from the local store that gives a warm friendly welcome.

8 5. TEMPLATES

Materials to help achieve media coverage:

 Timeline of key brand achievements  Street party press release  Draft invitation letter  Photocall notice for birthday event  Local school press release

9 Street party press release

LOCAL LONDIS STORE HOSTS STREET PARTY

On xx (insert date), the local Londis store of xx (insert name), hosted a street party to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Londis.

Attended by the MP xx (insert name) and over xx (insert number) local residents, children played on the bouncy castle with freshly painted faces while parents sampled the latest new food and wine on offer. The store even managed to raise £xx for charity with its ‘guess the weight of the cake’ competition.

Store owner xx (insert name) said: “It was a really lovely day and great way to celebrate such an exciting milestone for Londis. We were amazed at the fantastic turn out of people and thrilled that everyone enjoyed themselves on our golden anniversary.”

Londis of xx (insert location) has been on the high street for xx (insert number) years. Store owner xx (insert name) opened the shop in xx (insert location) and has really enjoyed serving the local community. Previously the store was a xx (include history of the store if applicable).

Londis was established in October 1959 and is proud to have served the community for 50 years. There are now over 1,800 stores across Britain.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact: Xx (insert name) on tel: xx / email: xx

10 Invitation letter

Name Londis of xx Address

Today’s date

Dear xx

This year marks Londis’ 50th birthday. Londis stores all around the country will be celebrating this important milestone with a host of street parties.

My store, Londis of xx (insert location), is one of over 1,800 Londis stores nationwide, and we will be celebrating our golden anniversary with a street party from xx (insert timings) on xx (insert date).

Proud to serve the local area, we will be inviting our community and customers to share this exciting time. There will be something for everyone, including xxxxx (insert what you are planning to do here).

We would be delighted if you were able to join us for our street party.

I have run the Londis in xx (insert town) for xx (insert number) years and I look forward to celebrating this birthday with my customers.

I do hope you will be able to join us to celebrate our golden anniversary.

Best wishes

11 Photocall notice for birthday event

*PHOTO OPPORTUNITY*

WHAT: Local Londis store to throw milestone 50th birthday party

WHERE: Londis of xx (insert name of store), address

STARTS: xxx (insert time and date)

------

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Londis, the local Londis store is hosting a birthday party to celebrate and the whole community is invited!

Photograph the birthday celebrations:

(insert times and activities, eg)

11am Dancing competitions to 50s music

2pm 1950s fancy dress competition

3pm The largest pass the parcel game

Interview local retail entrepreneurs xx (insert your name) to talk about the history of Londis and their local store.

Located in the heart of xxx (insert location), a shop has been on the site for over xxx (insert number) years. Before xx (insert name) bought the premises, the building had housed xxxx (insert details here).

-Ends-

For further information, please contact: Xx (insert name) on Tel xx / email: xx

12 Local school press release

LOCAL LONDIS STORE AND SCHOOL LOOK TO THE FUTURE

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Londis, the local Londis store in xx (insert store location) linked up with xx (insert name of school) to bury a time capsule in the school grounds. Due to be opened in 50 years time, the school children placed a xxxx (insert details here, eg daily newspaper, comic, packet of crisps, bottle of water and tins of baked beans and tomato soup).

Xx (insert your name) from the Londis store said: “We tried to think of everyday items that would help children of the future get a sense of how we lived in 2009. However, if products eaten in 1959 can remain on today’s shopping lists, everyone may still be eating tins of baked beans and tomato soup in 2059!”

Xx, head teacher at xx (insert name of head teacher and school) added: “The project has really fuelled everyone’s imagination. There have been some very interesting discussions about what kind of products will be available in 2059, with one pupil keen to include his favourite chocolate bar just in case chocolate didn’t exist!”

Londis of xx (insert location) is one of over 1,800 Londis stores nationally, celebrating Londis’ golden anniversary. Londis is proud to have served the community for 50 years. Established in October 1959, it was set up by a small group of grocers and has gone from strength to strength. -Ends-

For further information, please contact: Xx (insert name) on Tel xx / email: xx