The greater group has come a long way in the four months since the merger of Angley & Arrowsmith, Shopworks and Locasia.
Currently boasting the design, build and/or procurement for the “who’s who” of retail, greater group partners include Samsung, Optus and SingTel, JB Hi-Fi, Bunnings, Google, Bank of Melbourne, St.George Bank, Westpac Bank, Hudsons & Costa Coffee (Emirates), Pandora Jewellery, Medibank Private, Jetset/Harvey World Travel, Amcal Chemist, and Nissan.
Neil Arrowsmith, partner and CEO of greater group says, “we aim to be supporting the number one or two, in virtually every category of retail,” and it seems it is well on its way to achieving just that.
Google, in looking for partners to deliver its burgeoning range of retail products, discovered there are very few companies who provide an end to end delivery system. Hence, Google now uses Greater Group in more and more countries around the world to build, install, and maintain its fixturing systems.
Additionally, greater group has been invited exclusively to develop retail concepts and designs for the worldwide implementation of both Miss Universe (and all its retail applications) and what Arrowsmith calls “College Wear”.
“Greater group, together with Brand Licensing, have developed a program to offer unique ‘fashion wear’ for over 130 US colleges and universities in a dedicated retail environment that includes the likes of UCLA, Stamford, Harvard and Texas.”
Arrowsmith points out that “colleges have done a good job marketing themselves through college sport, such as grid iron and basketball, but have not addressed international opportunities to market their brands through fashion apparel and accessories.” (Think Hilfiger University and Abercrombie.)
Greater group will be the design custodians for Miss Universe and College Wear. It will manage the look, feel, and implementation of the stores’ fitouts, fixtures, logos, and visual merchandising. And all signs are positive as Brand Licensing has already had a significant amount of MOU’s from some of the world’s largest retailers and licensors to stock both brands.
“The Miss Universe TV audience is one of the largest in the world, second only to World Cup soccer, and is exceptionally large in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Americas. Its website has 14 billion hits, at an average time on site of 13 minutes, with 52 per cent females. If ladies want to see the latest in fashion, evening wear, shoes, swimwear, lingerie, then this is where they will see it,” says Bob Angley, partner and MD of Design at the greater group.
On a local level, greater group are looking to partner in the areas of fashion, commercial and hospitality, “these are great potential growth areas for us,” says Arrowsmith.
