Ethel Austin plans 70th birthday party
Promotional campaign to reward customers
Discount clothing retailer Ethel Austin is laying plans for a promotional campaign to mark the 70th birthday of the business.
Ethel Austin chief executive Phil Hoskinson is promising to mark the anniversary by rewarding customers who have helped turn the company into a major high street force.
While exact details of the promotion are being saved for a formal launch next month, customers will be able to take advantage of a package of substantial discounts on Ethel Austin’s most popular lines.
Hoskinson said: “This is a major milestone in Ethel Austin’s history and comes with the firm enjoying a remarkable run of success. That’s due to what we believe is a special relationship with our customers and we want to make sure they’re part of the celebrations.”
Ethel Austin and her husband, George, began trading in 1934, selling balls of wool out of a shop in Liverpool. By 1980, Ethel Austin’s operations covered 55 stores across the North West and North Wales. Ethel herself died in 1989 aged 90.
The company now has 280 stores across Britain, and has announced a five-year expansion programme which will see 200 more stores added by 2009.
[img r]etheraustinphil.jpg[/img]Hoskinson ([i]pictured[/i]), who led the MBO of the business from the Austin family in 2002, said: “We still believe in providing customers with great service, great product and great value for money and being a true part of the communities in which they live. That’s repaid by customers who, on average, visit our stores twice a week.
“Even though the company will undergo further growth, we will not change. We believe that by sticking to our principles, we can continue to make progress.”
