25 July 2012
W5’s interactive children’s shop has undergone a brand change, with SPAR Northern Ireland signing up to a three year sponsorship deal with the award-winning visitor attraction.
Each year over a quarter of a million visitors are welcomed to the science and discovery centre at the Odyssey and START – the area for eights and under – has just opened the doors to a brand new role play shopping experience with SPAR.
Central to the success of the partnership has been the integrity of the area – the team have worked together to make the store as realistic as possible. This means the mini replica SPAR can deliver an important message to an influential audience of young children and their parents about delivering value, sourcing responsibly and locally and supporting local suppliers in a fun and creative environment.
Playing ‘shop’ at SPAR will give young visitors the chance to role play as store assistants, select items from shelves and hone their maths skills, while learning the importance of sharing and co-operating with others.
Brenda Mulligan, Brand Marketing Controller at Henderson Group, said: “We’re delighted to ‘open up shop’ at W5 and work in partnership with an organisation that is dedicated to the education and advancement of children. SPAR invests heavily already in the well-being of children via its sponsorship of school sports day kits and its close links with the NSPCC. Therefore we hope this new partnership will be an extension of our work to date and have a lasting educational benefit to the little visitors at the SPAR shop in START.”
Stephanie Berkeley, Marketing Manager at W5, added: “We are proud to welcome SPAR on board as strategic partners for the role play shop in START. W5 and SPAR are home grown organisations which share a number of key messages and synergies including value for money and commitment to the local market and suppliers and SPAR’s ethics and community outreach fits well with our own core values.”
More information on shopping at START supported by SPAR can be found at www.w5online.co.uk