Riverside Shopping Centre offers its female clients an exclusive lifestyle club

Hemel Hempstead, UK, may not be a fashion destination for the world’s rich and famous, but the area now boasts its own set of socialites. On 10th May, Riverside Shopping Centre officially entered the local scene when it launched Riverside Femme, an exclusive club for women.
Riverside Femme focuses on style and lifestyle issues, offering members retail offers, speaking opportunities and social events.
Fittingly, Councillor Jane Hogg, the town mayor who is also known locally as a woman who ‘has it all’, opened the festivities at a networking light lunch held at Riverside’s Premier Travel Inn.
All 40 members in attendance enjoyed meeting like-minded ladies before taking in a ‘key wardrobe items’ seminar with the Debenhams personal shopper and a makeup workshop with Clinique. Attendees were also entered into a free prize draw to win the clothes featured in the Debenhams seminar, a personal shopper experience and their own makeup consultation.
"We’ve had a great response from local women and the launch event was a real success," recalled Sasha Cedar, marketing manager at Arlington Properties, which owns Riverside Shopping Centre.
"As a new retail and leisure destination, it is important for Riverside to be perceived as a local pioneer in all aspects of marketing. One of the key aims of Riverside Femme is to attract new shoppers who would not have visited Hemel Hempstead before Riverside."
The centre’s appointed agency, Toolbox Marketing, developed the idea of a ladies’ club to demonstrate Riverside’s dedication to its core female clientele, as well as to engage shoppers in an innovative way. With a strong visual campaign that comprised of posters, floor graphics, leaflets, press advertising and focused PR, Riverside encouraged target customers to participate. The response was so immediate that registration reached full target capacity three weeks prior to the club’s launch.
Hemel Hempstead’s socialites will meet quarterly from now on, with the theme of each event to be tailored to the members’ interests along with current fashion and living issues. Each time, members will have an opportunity to lead an event as speakers, offering a dynamic platform for women operating their own businesses. Riverside Femme also intends to link up with local charities and work with influential women in the area to drive fundraising events.
Riverside Femme recently made its debut online, allowing for member registration, email offers and newsletters via a dedicated Website at RiversideHemel.com. .