Shop damaged in Edinburgh fire will be Cook’s new concept store
Thomas Cook will open its second flagship Concept Store in Edinburgh in July.
The Hanover Street shop was closed in July 2012 following a fire in a nearby restaurant.
Staff were relocated to other retail outlets while the store was being refurbished.
It will re-open in time for the Edinburgh Festival as a sister to Thomas Cook’s Leeds concept store.
Like Leeds, it will have ambient music and video and will offer "social media technologies so customers can share personalised, holiday-related content".
But it will also have a welcoming VIP Lounge, which Thomas Cook claims is a first for travel retail.
"Retail is such an important part of Thomas Cook’s omni-channel approach," said retail director Joanna Wild.
Thomas Cook, which is closing 195 shops across the UK and is looking to move to 50% online bookings, said research indicates that 46% of holidaymakers want to deal ‘face-to-face with an expert before booking their holiday’.
"The concept store is all about enabling our customers to book exactly what they want how they want," added Wild.
"Whether it’s via the new technologies that will be available to all, or the ‘human touch’ where expert advice is on-hand if our customers need it, the aim of our new ‘stores of the future’ will be to make sure that we provide the very best consumer interaction on the high street, both within and without travel."
by Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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