Westfield celebrates small businesses with shop window display spaces

Westfield London and Westfield Stratford have allocated empty shop unit windows to online start-up businesses, celebrating social media brands that originated as side hustles in 2020.

With over 85,000 online businesses created since the start of the pandemic and 74% of consumers wanting to see retailers adapt to their local areas, the displays champion London’s 'Side Hustle Heroes'.

As Westfield’s latest How We Shop: What’s Changed research reveals, more than half of consumers (52%) are looking to shop more locally, Westfield has responded by bringing these selection of brands from digital windows to retail windows.

Spanning fashion, homewares and beauty, the shopping destinations owner has hand-picked brands that embody creativity and whose founders have demonstrated a relentless ambition to turn a side hustle into a viable business during a time of global uncertainty.

The 'Side Hustle Heroes' partnership gives these brands invaluable large scale presence in prominent mall space at Europe’s two largest centres which attracted 1.2 million visitors, safely, in retail’s reopening week.

London’s Side Hustle Heroes will reside across both centres until June and a QR code is available to scan on each store front to lead directly onto each company’s social channels and websites.

Brands included in the window displays include:

• Tingle. - Founded by Natalie James whilst working full-time in fashion PR, the entrepreneur used her savvy abilities to build a the ultimate self-care subscription box company that has a strong female empowerment stance at the core.
• Ava May – A fashion brand offering bespoke tie dye accessories and clothing, launched in the height of lockdown by luxury PR consultant Abbie Lewi whilst on maternity leave.
• MH Living – Founded by Visual Stylist Molly Hill, she turned her expertise into a successful side hustle of her own. MH Living is a homeware & accessories brand with hints of contemporary Danish style.

Harita Shah, Marketing Director UK and Creative, Media, Events, & Brand – Europe, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield commented: “Whilst the pandemic has been a tough time for many it has also simultaneously presented an opportunity for the nation to turn their hobbies and passions into their very own businesses launching online over the past 12 months.

“With people craving physical experiences more so than ever before and 49% of consumers wanting to buy more locally sourced products, we’re bringing these online brands offline into a physical space for the first time. We’re delighted to be able to hero and support these London entrepreneurs giving them direct exposure to the millions of shoppers who visit our centres each year”.