Six months after winning entrepreneurship contest
MEIA.DÚZIA® GOES FROM STAR UP TO PERMANENT STORE AT MAR SHOPPING
Matosinhos, June 5, 2014
It was in November last year that the meia.dúzia® project - an innovative concept of jams in tubes - opened its first (and only) official store at MAR Shopping, as part of the contest “Five years of life, a business of success”, promoted by the shopping centre, in partnership with Fundação da Juventude, and which provided for the free transfer of a start-up store for a period of three to six months. After that period, and following the request of its customers, meia.dúzia® decided to remain at MAR Shopping as a permanent store.
Since opening its official store, the project has grown from 60 to around 130 points of sale in Portugal and abroad, having also set out to conquer five new international markets: Colombia, Spain, Dubai, Brazil and Italy.< /p>
The meia.dúzia® store is an Invitation to the World of Experiences, where the brand surprises with new flavors and many experiences of aromas and smells. The concept and inspiration in painting and flavor experiences are clearly visible in the tubes hanging in the store that are not for paints, but for fruit candies and in the glass balloons with aromatic teas with fruits and artisanal liqueurs. So far, around 20 thousand units have been sold at the MAR Shopping store.
For the promoters, the brothers Jorge and Andreia Ferreira, the space was responsible “for leveraging the concept and the brand” for which all the investments made by meia.dúzia® in national and international fairs have contributed. The main achievement was the “notoriety that the brand achieved with the final consumer”.
“After the free handover period of the store, we decided to remain at MAR Shopping at the request of many customers, who would like to continue to be able to access our products, our news and visit the space, which has been the brand showcase, the place where national and international customers get to know the concept, understand its origin and our vision. It is where they can experiment and create experiences and it is fundamental for our growth”, explains Jorge Ferreira. “The experience and the results are very positive”, adds Andreia.
Promoting entrepreneurship in the region was the main objective of this initiative, which was part of the celebrations of the 5th Anniversary of MAR Shopping and which had the support of the Fundação da Juventude. A mission that Sandra Monteiro, general director of the shopping center, considers accomplished. “We believe that this initiative was very important to boost the emergence of new business concepts in an area of the country that has contributed a lot at this level. From the first moment we came into contact with the project, we believed in its potential and success. For MAR Shopping it was also an opportunity to surprise our customers with an innovative product. Therefore, we couldn't be more pleased to keep in our offer the only store meia.dúzia®”.
By Pure Activism