Under the name Bel Friday, Belgian stores put themselves in the spotlight during All Saints’ Day. It must become the Belgian variant on Black Friday, which will ensure worldwide promotions at the end of November. “A nod to Black Friday, but above all an opportunity to promote Belgian retailers.”
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It is not a campaign to tell how difficult it is for Belgian retailers, explains one of the initiators, Dieter Struye (Colruyt Group). “After the first lockdown, we noticed that people were really looking for those Belgian, local products and merchants . Sales increased by no less than 23 percent. But it is not always clear to most people what is local and Belgian and what is not. That is why we want to put Belgian shops in the spotlight. So it is not a Calimero campaign to show how difficult it has been. ”
With the slogan “Here, we go for it together”, Bel Friday wants to make it clear between October 30 and November 2 that there is indeed a lot of Belgian pride in our stores. “Some stores will give promotions, others will provide gifts for customers. But everywhere we mainly put the local character in the spotlight. We want to show how Belgian companies are important for social security and also provide jobs. 34 stores are participating, which is already good for 9,000 employees. ” JBC and Zeb, among others, are participating, but Proximus and Impermo are also on the list of participants.
Local little brother
Everything made in Belgium except for the umbrella name Bel Friday? “In any case, we wanted to address the two parts of the country with one name and logo, so we opted for English, that’s right. At the same time, we also wanted that nod to Black Friday. We want to be the local and sympathetic brother of the global concept. We do not have a profit motive, every new customer for Belgian retail is profit for us ”, says Struye. What’s more, the non-profit organization donates 100,000 euros to the Red Cross. “We thought it was important to also do something to support the social fabric. That is why we link the campaign to a good cause. ”
The newly established non-profit organization also wants to make Bel Friday a recurring campaign. Preferably, a second edition is already planned for the spring.
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