When Neath Rugby signed a New Zealand half back pairing they also inherited two fashion conscious females with bags of merchandising experience.
Aimee Anderson, girlfriend of Neath’s fly half Matty James and Renee Bidois girlfriend of Neath’s scrum half Kevin Farrell both worked as visual merchandisers at large department stores in New Zealand, Aimee for EziBuy and Renee for Country Road.
Their job included creating window and interior displays to maximize sales, giving southern hemisphere stores a unique look and feel.
After Neath Rugby’s Replay Fashion Sport store reported increased sales of 40% since its revamp in October the outlet wanted to continue to make an impact on the Neath shopping experience and brought in the kiwis to merchandise new spring lines from brands such as Joules and Timberland together with its range of rugby gear ahead of the Six Nations tournament.
Manager Deenna Barton said:
“Whist we are delighted with how the store has performed since we re launched in October, the opportunity to bring in the experts was too good an opportunity to miss and we a delighted with the end result.”
Aimee age 20 said:
“Merchandising the store was really enjoyable and it was great to bring methods we have both used in New Zealand retail to Neath.
The store really has something for everyone and we hope our merchandising will help bring in more customers and give them an even more memorable shopping experience at Replay.
Renee aged 23 from Auckland commented:
“The store now as a more spacious feel, allowing those customers with buggies room to manoeuvre. Gorgeous stock and clever use of props have given the store that wow factor that every independent retailer and shopper craves.”
