Easter in Europe

Across Europe Easter celebrations are not confined to one weekend only. Atterbury Europe’s valued country partners across its European portfolio share how this auspicious time was celebrated at its malls across Romania and Cyprus.

When was Easter celebrated in your territory this year?
Simona Teodorescu, PR manager, Iulius Mall, Romania: This year, Easter was celebrated in Romania between 24 and 26  April.

George Pissis, marketing manager, Mall of Cyprus and Mall of Engomi, Cyprus: Easter Sunday was celebrated on 24 April this year. Schools closed as they normally do on 15 April. Shopping malls closed only for Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, which fell on 25 April.

Are there still significant Covid restrictions or regulations in place in public spaces?
ST: The majority of restrictions in Romania were lifted in March, including access to shopping centres based on the green certificate and wearing a protection mask.

GP: There were some significant relaxations in time for Easter in Cyprus. The safe pass that was required to enter shopping centres, shops and outside dining areas was phased out and it now only stands for inside dining areas.

Mask-wearing is still compulsory for all indoor areas, and there are still some restrictions on the occupancy levels.

What activities or special activations were planned at your malls?
ST: In all the Iulius shopping malls, customers shopped during this period and signed up for the Easter campaign, where they tried their luck on the Easter Bunny’s Wheel and won various prizes.

During this period we also launched the online catalogue for the “Color your life” campaign, which inspired customers by way of the seasonal fashion collections offered in the malls.

There were numerous events aimed at children in the Iulius shopping malls, including puppet theatre and creative workshops where they coloured different Easter ornaments or learnt to decorate eggs, a very popular tradition in our country.

In Iulius Town Timișoara we offered an egg hunt for the little ones in a maze that was specially constructed in the atrium, with sweet surprises and diplomas as reward.

GP: Our major activation for the Easter period was the launch of Circle, the first shopping-mall loyalty app in Cyprus. Circle can be downloaded for free on Play Store and App Store and with the app we aim to reward our visitors and offer them a digitally enriched shopping experience. This will help us to differentiate from our competition, in order to attract and retain traffic.

The main benefit of the app is that the users gain 10 points every time they visit any of our two malls, and then the points can be redeemed for rewards from different shops. In addition, users can follow their favourite shops and receive news and offers via the app.

We also prepared limited-edition Easter packaging for our Mall Gift Card, to offer visitors a unique alternative for Easter gifting. We promoted it via a social-media campaign.

Finally, we organised activities for children every afternoon over a two-week period at both our malls. We had an Easter theme for Easter week and a Spring theme for the week after Easter, offering our young visitors a variety of arts and crafts. Due to COVID-19 restriction on events, we hadn’t had creative activities for children in a while, and this was something that our core target group of family visitors were really looking forward to and supported enthusiastically.

How busy were the malls compared to a typical Easter period, and compared to last year when the pandemic still had a strong effect? Can you mention a highlight over the period?
ST: Compared to last year’s Easter holiday period, when we had many restrictions, mall footfall increased on average by 35%, as we expected. In the first quarter of 2022, shopping malls’ footfall has increased between 15% and 25%, and we are excited that this upward trend is expected to continue during summer.

The pandemic had already set new consumer trends, with the public seeking not only products, but shopping experiences more than ever before. We see a huge appetite for creative leisure options, which entail a mix of shopping, meeting with friends at restaurants or at the cinema, relaxing with the family in the park, working out at the fitness centre, new entertainment concepts, attending family-friendly events, and so on.

GP: Malls in Cyprus were closed in both Easter 2021 and Easter 2020 because of COVID-19. Easter traffic was still down compared to 2019, which was a record year in terms of traffic following the inauguration of the Mall of Cyprus expansion, but nevertheless it posted a healthy increase compared to the average weekly traffic we’ve seen this year to date.

What is next at your malls in terms of marketing planning?
ST: We have a busy summer planned across the Iulius portfolio in Romania. The “World of Dinosaurs” exhibition that ran in Iulius Town Timișoara and Iulius Mall Suceava this spring and drew record numbers of visitors will also reach Iulius Mall Cluj by the end of May.

The series of interactive and educative activities continues in Iulius Timișoara and Iulius Mall Suceava with a snake and reptile exhibition.

Many events are planned in the gardens of Cluj and Timișoara, including a street-food festival inspired by cuisines from all over the world, a craft-beer mini-festival, outdoor film screenings, music festivals and, for International Children’s Day on 1 June there will be concerts, puppet theatre performances, creative workshops, magic shows and other fun events.

GP: At the Mall of Cyprus, we are launching our brand-new environmental, social and corporate governance platform, “Better Together”, and the first activation is the “Greener Together” Expo that happens on 21 and 22 May. Around 15 different companies and organisations with various eco-friendly initiatives, products and services are participating. It will be the first expo of its kind in a shopping mall, and its primary objective is to offer our visitors solutions on how they can make their life greener, and educate them regarding environmental and sustainability issues. This initiative will differentiate us from the competition as the pioneering mall that we are.

For Mall of Engomi, we are planning a travel-themed competition, as we feel that people will be excited to travel outside Cyprus after two years of pandemic-related restrictions. The objective is to drive the mall traffic and sales in the pre-summer period. The prize is an eight-day trip for two to Rhodes Island, with five-star hotel accommodation. Participation will be very easy: visitors will get one coupon with each receipt from anywhere at the mall between 9 May and 12 June.