In a world once owned by big players, a movement towards personality and personalisation has swept like a new paint brush through the world of stationery, from Paperchase, to Blott and now to the up and coming from the land down under – Smiggle.
Smiggle stores are density packed with colourful collections in bright bands of pink and green, encompassing everything from erasers to envelopes, from rucksacks and sticker packs.
Destination Scribble offers an eye-popping array of pens and pencils to fill the capacity of the most cavernous of pencil cases, whilst the Creative Wall features fabulous felt-tips and fibre-tips to bring colour into the life of even the most tepid teenage stationery traveller. Dynamic messages and promotions are strong and engaging with window displays to win, and internal activities and competitions galore.
After an initial foray into Stratford Westfield, Smiggle is set to roll-out to another dozen or so UK destinations. If the colourful combinations, fun atmosphere and tempting promotions take a firm foothold on the lined paper slopes of the UK market, then the writing may already be on the wall, both literally and figuratively, for some of the nation’s more complacent purveyors of pens, pencils and post-its.
Make a note of Smiggle.
Are there new entrants in your sector? Are they introducing new ideas and inspiration from which you can learn and turn some of the same old proposition into something exciting and fresh?