A fashion jewellery chain is adding an extra touch of sparkle to its store in Wrexham which has just notched up a record sales year.
Angharad Wainwright at the revamped Mococo store at Eagles Meadow, Wrexham
Mococo is celebrating a surge in business of almost 20 per cent on the previous year at the store at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre.
According to the company run by husband and wife team Lee and Maureen Hooson, it is the most profitable of the company’s seven branches across North Wales, Cheshire and Merseyside.
To mark the achievement Mococo, which this year has its 10th anniversary, embarked on a major £50,000 refurbishment at Eagles Meadow with the aim of “providing an even better customer experience”.
This will see the store, which had a fanfare launch in 2012, fitted out with more display cabinets to showcase a host of new high quality products.
Mococo started as a kitchen table enterprise for Lee and Maureen, from Flintshire, and has grown into a network of sumptuous shops in key shopping centres including Chester, Liverpool and Birkenhead.
Lee said: “In 2016 we have our tenth anniversary. Eagles Meadow is a very special store for us and last year enjoyed record sales there which increased by just under 20 per cent.
“That’s a fantastic achievement and makes Wrexham the best performing of all our stores, including the one in Chester.
“I think that’s down to a number of factors, including the great offer we have at the store in terms of our range of jewellery and its presentation and also because the country is now recovering from recession and people have a bit more money to spend.
“The welcome reduction in car parking charges at the shopping centre has also helped enormously to increase the footfall.
“Things are going fantastically well for us at Eagles Meadow which is why we’ve set out on the big refurbishment.”
Lee added: “We already have jewellery collections from the likes of Thomas Sabo, Clogau and Swarovski but we’re now introducing a number of other beautiful designer ranges such as Chrysalis chains and bangles, Nomination charm bracelets from Italy and engagement and wedding rings in platinum and diamond from Serenity, all of which are high end items at affordable prices.
“To allow us to show off these new collections to best effect we’re fitting some additional display cases in the store, one of which is in the rather novel shape of a watch with a dial and a winder for a range of watches.
“This investment in the Eagles Meadow store gives us the ability to broaden our offer there and spread our wings a little, providing our customers with even more of what they want.
“Eagles Meadow has always been very good for us and to cap a great year for us in 2015, we also had a successful January sale.
“This started on Boxing Day and, once again, saw people queueing up outside ready to come into the store to see what bargains we had on offer.”
From a humble start around the kitchen table of their home in Northop the Hoosons have rapidly developed Mococo over the past decade to the point where it has become one of the most important players in the business.
Since Mococo was started with just £250 of Maureen’s savings in 2006 the couple have opened seven high street shops in Wrexham, Ruthin, Mold, Chester, Birkenhead, Liverpool and Wigan.
Maureen used her original £250 investment to buy a small range of gems which she sold to friends at jewellery parties and things grew from there.
With husband Lee masterminding the business side of things, Maureen concentrated on making her own jewellery and buying in a host of prestige brands.
