Shopping centre fears 'welly mountain' as shoppers discover 'dry' York
A York shopping centre has warned that it may be over-run with a mountain of wellies in the coming weeks, as shoppers arriving in the city expecting to have to wade through water discover that the city is, in fact, entirely dry.
Just this morning, visitors arriving in the city could be seen sporting the waterproof footwear, despite most of the Boxing Day floodwater that hit the headlines having disappeared from most areas by New Year’s Day.
“People are arriving in wellington boots, and then having to find a place to dump them once they realise that the city is completely dry – great news for our footwear retailers, but when people struggle to dispose of them, we could face a small mountain of surplus-to-requirements wellies in the city, filling our rubbish bins,” comments centre manager, Pippa Unwin. “We’re about to enter the last weekend of the January sales, so it is crucial that people recognise that York is now flood-free and back open for business, or we could end up with a welly-flood or a welly-lanche if the pile gets much bigger.”
Indeed, footwear retailers in the Coppergate Centre are now offering discounts to encourage people to swap their rubber footwear to something better suited to York’s chic shopping experience – Charles Clinkard is offering anyone who leaves in dry weather footwear a 10% discount on sale items until Saturday 13 February.
“Even at the height of the floods, you could walk around the entire Coppergate Centre without even seeing a puddle, and much of the rest of the main city centre retailing area was similarly dry – the underground basement at JORVIK Viking Centre was affected, but this was well below pavement level. All of the shops in Coppergate, including JORVIK’s gift shop, are open and fully operational,” adds Pippa.
However, unlike the school in Darlington which this week requested parents not to arrive wearing their onesies, Pippa has no plans to ban galoches. “Seeing the array of stylish Hunter boots, Ted Baker, Barbour or Joules wellingtons and a host of other colourful designs that people have wearing recently, this may actually mark the start of a new winter fashion – could rubber be the new leather in a practical footwear revolution?” asks Pippa.
The Coppergate Centre is located in the city centre close to many of the city’s cultural attractions, including York Castle Museum, Clifford’s Tower and The York Army Museum, with convenient parking in the on-site Piccadilly and neighbouring Castle car parks. It is host to a wide range of shops, including the Fenwick department store, Top Shop, Patisserie Valerie, Clark’s Shoes and The Whisky Shop.
This weekend (30 & 31 January), the Centre will celebrate York Residents’ Weekend when local residents can enjoy a host of discounts in some of its stores.
For more information, please visit www.coppergateshoppingcentre.co.uk
ENDS
Notes to editors: The JORVIK Viking Centre remains closed until further notice due to the clean-up required after its underground basement – the lowest point of the Coppergate Centre – flooded on Boxing Day. JORVIK’s street-level gift shop reopened in early January.
Pictures show:
- A bin full of wellies at York’s Coppergate Centre
- A member of the Coppergate maintenance team removing a welly from a sign post in York’s Coppergate Centre – maybe a sign of things to come, if visitors continue to arrive in York believing that they need to wear wellies?
Pictures are available for immediate download from:
http://news.cision.com/coppergate-shopping-centre
For further media information or photographs, please contact:
Jay Commins
Pyper York Limited
Tel: 01904 500698
Email: jay@pyperyork.co.uk
