York BID (Business Improvement District) is constantly looking at ways to improve the visitor and shopper experience within the city centre, so when we approached them about putting an umbrella installation into the Coppergate Centre, they jumped at the opportunity! For our client, the Coppergate Centre, the installation fulfilled an objective to increase footfall and draw more people into the Centre.
Our usual 'turnkey' approach came into play - we sourced and organised everything from the installation of anchors in the walls, to installing and maintaining the umbrellas throughout the month of September.
The installation was a huge success - instead of walking past the entrance to the Coppergate Centre, visitors and locals alike were walking down into the centre to take photographs, with thousands of #Brollywalk photos shared on social media by visitors from every corner of the globe! The installation enjoyed press, online and TV coverage, driving more visitors to the shops at one of the quieter times of year.
The first brollywalk appeared in September 2017. In 2018, we installed two 'celebratory' brollywalks - one for the Royal Wedding of Harry and Megan, and the second to mark our involvement in the city-wide Bloom! festival.
For 2019, we're being even more ambitious - they have become an Instagram phenomenon, and people are travelling to Coppergate just to see our brollies! So, each month from May to September, we'll have a different display - flowers in May, rainbows for York Pride in June and tennis bell-themed brollies in July. You'll have to wait and see what August and September bring, but we promise they will be fabulous!
