Centre chiefs showing signs of shopping wars
All's fair in love, war and Christmas shopping. The battle for shoppers' precious pounds was well and truly on today following an audacious move by Stafford town centre bosses to cross enemy lines to their high street.
Stafford Town Centre Partnership has spent £2,800 on advertising hoardings installed at sites including near the Molineux stadium in Wolverhampton and at the city's railway station, as well as in Cannock, Lichfield and Stoke-on-Trent. The move has been labelled "cheeky".
Some of the boards are adorned with the simple message, 'Shop, Eat, and Enjoy Stafford', while others promote the county town's programme of festive events.
Cannock Chase Council leader George Adamson today called the campaign "cheeky", but others said it was fair game. Will Conaghan, spokesman for Stafford Borough Council, said a pilot publicity campaign was launched last year.
"The anecdotal feedback we received showed it was very successful," he said. "People mentioned the signs to shopkeepers and said they were very impressed, while others commented on how much we had going on here."
Stafford Town Centre Partnership chairman Chris Lewis added: "Stafford provides more of a unique shopping experience than other areas of the country with a 50/50 mix of independent traders alongside major national businesses.
"Other areas have previously advertised in Stafford – but we think we have the best offer and will continue to shout about it whether on our fantastic website, thro-ugh social media or tradit-ional forms of advertising in local newspapers and billboards."
Councillor Adamson said Cannock was likely to mount a counter-offensive in the next few years. "I can't blame them for trying, fair play to them for that. It is a bit cheeky," he said.
Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said: "Anybody is entitled to market themselves, but I'm sure Wolverhampton's traders will rise to the challenge and bring some people in from Stafford to Wolverhampton."
