I have to admit we are taking it a bit easy here today after a busy afternoon and evening at our stockist John Bell & Croyden in London's Wigmore Street promoting our skincare and make-up for sensitive skin.
The store was open until 9pm yesterday as part of a special Summer promotional evening and everything was discounted by 20% between 4pm-9pm. As John Bell sells everything from surgical instruments to gadgets for every kind of back, foot etc problem and from vitamins to cosmetics for every skin type, this was a fabulous shopping opportunity and, as you can imagine, people surged into the store to take advantage. I swear many shoppers were there for two hours, baskets bulging, although they were no doubt encouraged and fuelled by the free Pimm's and canapes and sandwiches on offer. I actually saw a woman with two children loading up a napkin with food and then giving them a sort of picnic tea in a corner. Feed your kids for free, what a bonus.
We had put together some nice goodie bags containing a rather too generous (in my opinion) sample of our Medicated Cleanser, Non-Alcoholic Toner, Moisturiser, Light Night Cream and Eye Make-up Remover. There was lots of interest and we sold a good few items as well as giving out the freebies. We have realised, however, that what really draws the crowds is doing mini-facials so, next year, or at the annual Christmas version of this event that John Bell holds, we are going to ask one of the many beauty therapists who use Queen to come and give practical demonstrations of the products and show how to best look after sensitive skin.
The event did attract the customary freeloaders and loons who lurked around the store for hours, buying nothing but enjoying the free food and booze. One rather assertive sales assistant told me that the previous Christmas event had brought in a load of teenagers demanding free samples of cosmetic products. She ended up calling security to eject them as they got more and more unruly. Thankfully, no rowdy teenagers pitched up last night.
John Bell always attracts lots of Arab ladies who are accompanied by burly minders. I have no idea how the latter manage to stay awake as their charges spend hours poring over products and trying out make-up but they do. They are also employed to ferry overflowing shopping baskets to the check-out. "They spend thousands of pounds and sometimes pay in cash," whispered a sales assistant to me, her eyes wide with awe.
We also had the (thankfully very few) women who refuse samples as though you are trying to indoctrinate them into some obscure cult. One woman, who looked absolutely ghastly with too much make-up and a dry, wrinkled complexion, looked up at me smugly when I asked her if she minded telling me what cosmetic brand she used and said: "Creme de la Mer" with a sort of half smirk. I wanted to implore her to look in the mirror. She certainly wasn't a good advert for that brand. And, I can only imagine the amount of money she's wasting (although I suppose these things are relative - without the cream, she could look ten times worse).
Legs-aching, we headed for the tube at the end of the evening, only to find the Victoria Line was closed for maintenance. Then ensued a frantic dash across London via the Central, Jubilee and Circle lines to get the train back to Sussex. Much as I love London, it's always a pleasure to leave.
Otherwise, it's been an uneventful week at Queen. The stream of freebie-hunting emails has finally become a trickle and it's quite easy now to distinguish the genuine from the freeloading (at least I think I can tell them).
We are very close to starting full-scale production of our anti-wrinkle cream so we are focused on finalising labels and some literature to accompany the product. We have had a lot of interest from our existing customers so are hoping this does actually translate into sales.
Well, we are going to despatch the orders and head home. It's quite a nice balmy afternoon here now although clouds are gathering in the distance.
Have a good weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment