Indie greeting and gift store’s campaign to pull in Christmas customers
Parking charges are always a bone of contention so, with the cost-of-living crisis starting to bite, and Christmas card buying and gifting about to ramp up, not having to pay to leave your car in town is definitely a winner.
And it’s an offer customers at Maybugs can’t refuse as the greeting card and gift retailer is set to cover parking charges at its Bexhill and Eastbourne stores – up to £8.40 at the most expensive local car park.
From today, 1 November, until Christmas Eve, the business is offering to pay for customer parking charges, and is supporting the move with a major advertising campaign on Sussex’s More Radio.
“For anyone spending at least £50 in one transaction at Maybugs,” co-owner and managing director Greg Rose explained, “all they’ll need to do is to show their parking ticket and at least £5 will be discounted off of their purchase, and up to £8.40 to cover seven hours parking in the most expensive of the local car parks in Eastbourne.
“Even if a customer’s parking costs less than £5, they’ll still receive the £5 discount, and all products are included, even those that are reduced already.”
Greg pointed out that parking charges around the country have increased massively this year and, he added: “In Eastbourne and Bexhill, the price of parking is obscene!
“With the current cost-of-living crisis, we recognise so many families haven’t got a spare £8.40 to pay for the privilege of going to the shops once, let alone several times. We know this money is something they’d much rather spend on their loved ones’ presents, therefore, we thought there has got to be another way to get people back into the town.
“We came up with the idea that we could discount our customers’ purchases up to the value of their parking. That way, effectively, we’ve paid for their parking, plus it’s a way of us saying thank you for shopping with us.”
Co-owner and sales director John Dale blamed councils and large corporations that own shopping centres for “ripping people off for parking and destroying small businesses at the same time”, saying everyone knows customers can order online and have items delivered very easily, and he added: “This means they’re even less likely to go to a town and shop if they have to pay a fortune just to park.”
The pair’s first store opened in Hailsham in 2018, followed by the larger Eastbourne outlet in 2021, and Bexhill-On-Sea became their third shop just this summer, with all stocking a wide variety of greetings, gifts and homewares, including brands such as Redback Cards, Poet and Painter, Lola Design, Hammond Gower, Jellycat, Wrendale Designs, Inis Fragrance, and Carrie Elspeth jewellery.
They accept it’s reasonable to charge increased parking fees during the summer tourist season, but question why prices aren’t lowered during the Christmas shopping to remove barriers to locals wanting to shop near home and support small independent businesses and retailers like Maybugs at such a critical time.
Greg said: “If you look at Hailsham, where Wealden District Council offers free parking, the town has one of the lowest vacant shop rates in the UK, the High Street is full of independent shops, and we’re happy to say that Maybugs continues to thrive!
“We hope this promotion in both Eastbourne and Bexhill will help drive footfall, not just for us but for all the independent shops in these towns. Christmas trade should be everyone’s most profitable time, with that profit keeping all of us going for the rest of the year.”
Top: Maybugs’ co-owner Greg Rose at his Eastbourne store with the parking poster
