The Scottish gin firm will “pop up” in the north-east later this year for a Christmas special.
Scottish gin and beer firm Eden Mill in St Andrews will set up shop in an Aberdeen city shopping centre next month.
Opening on October 26 in Union Square, the new retail store will be based in front of Boots, located at the rear end of the mall.
It is one of five seasonal stores opening across Scotland which has created 25 jobs. Other locations the pop-up is taking place include St Andrews, Livingston and two in Glasgow.
Returning for the second time having been based at Bon Accord last year, the brand will return to Aberdeen in its new temporary home and will stock its festive range including hampers, candy cane gin, ready-to-drink Christmas cocktails and a range of premium gin and whisky, too.
Bucking the trend of high street decline, Tony Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Eden Mill, believes shopping in store is more important than ever, with sales in their pop-up venues quadrupling last year in comparison to 2018.
He said: “Despite social distancing, we believe shopping on the high street still has a vital role to play in this year’s Christmas trade, which is why we are expanding the number of festive pop-ups from the three we had last year to five in 2020.
“Nothing compares to the experience of seeing and sampling the gifts before you make that all-important Christmas purchase and for us at Eden Mill we love sharing our story and passion for our craft with customers in person. Having the pop-up stores gives us the opportunity to share our knowledge with consumers and enrich their experience of the bottle of gin or whisky they are buying.
“Last year we saw great success across our stores with four times the volume of sales versus Christmas 2018.
“During lockdown our online sales soared, growing e-commerce by 600%. We will continue to offer our classic range of gins, exclusive bottles and special deals, but we’re delighted to have these stores for those looking to share in the Eden Mill festive spirit on the high street.”
Looking to keep those shoppers who are out supporting the local high street safe, the gin firm has put numerous practices in place to ensure social distancing measures are being followed. Sanitising stations will also be readily available.
Steven Arnott, head of retail at Eden Mill, said: “For Christmas 2020 in store we are giving social distancing the Eden Mill treatment.
“Rather than being made to just wait in queues, customers will be greeted at a safe distance by one of our team who will immerse the customer in the Eden Mill experience before they even take a step inside.
“Once in store, we have sanitisation stations, safe tasting points and every step of the journey will engage the customer in our story as the floor vinyl stickers marking where to stand one metre apart tell more about our journey from a small family distiller, to our sustainable hopes and plans for the future.”
