Can you believe it…Foyleside Shopping Centre is celebrating 25 years of serving you!
We want to give back to our loyal shoppers, so we are going to do a BIG giveaway during the week of our birthday!
Call into the centre, spot the posters and scan to be in with the chance of winning some Foyleside gift cards.
There will be 25 winners announced daily from Monday 21st September until Friday 25th September…our BIG birthday.
Good luck to everyone entering.
Keep an eye on our Facebook page for more surprises!
Foyleside Shopping Centre celebrates its 25th birthday
Cult TV show ‘Derry Girls’ has brought living in the city in the 1990s to a global audience but there’s no doubt that the most exciting thing about the decade was the opening of the North West’s landmark retail destination – Foyleside Shopping Centre – in 1995.
US President Bill Clinton even came to town in that most auspicious year for the historic city on the banks of the Foyle known worldwide for its LegenDerry welcome and flair for fashion!
Foyleside forged the way for retail therapy 25 years ago by attracting some of the biggest and best high street names with main anchor tenants (such as M&S and Dunnes Stores, followed by Debenhams to name a few) offering an exciting new range of products and services. The choices were endless and they have expanded through the years.
A weekend wasn’t complete without a wander around the stores on all four levels to check out the styles for every season and that’s still very much in vogue with fashion bloggers aka influencers now also leading the charge!
For Foyleside’s Assistant Manager, Siobhan McDonald, it’s all the traditional fun-filled seasonal activities hosted by the Centre that stand out when she rolls back the years since she joined the staff in 1996. “What I love most about Foyleside are the colourful events we hold throughout the year that bring the Centre to life and the magical interaction they create with our staff and customers, especially the children at Easter, Halloween and Christmas.”
Popular security staff member, Adrian ‘OB’ O’Brien, is another friendly, familiar face on the mall from 25 years ago and his job is clearly still a labour of love! “I have always loved my job at Foyleside, we’re like one big happy family here, staff and customers alike.”
Fast forward 25 years and Foyleside is still the premier shopping location in the North West. Overseeing its milestone 25th birthday is Centre manager Fergal Rafferty, who said: “It is such an achievement for Foyleside to be still as popular and relevant as it was when it first opened on September 25th, 1995. That is a testament to the dedicated management team and staff working within the Centre itself as well as all the Irish, UK and international retail chains who have identified this city as a great destination to do business.
“Our longevity and success is reflected in our ongoing ability to embrace the diversifications in shopping trends, for example, by complementing our modern bricks and mortar retail experience to also offer online shopping with a click and collect service available for customers in a number of our stores.”
Reflecting on some of his proudest standout moments for Foyleside to date, Fergal said: “We have always provided a full programme of entertainment for shoppers through our ongoing engagement with local schools and community groups throughout the North West, featuring both homegrown talent and visiting artists coinciding with all the big international annual festivals and events the city is famous for throughout the world.
“We are not just a shopping centre, we believe in being at the centre of our diverse local communities and that also includes giving back to the community by supporting local charities. Foyleside Shopping Centre has helped to raise tens of thousands of pounds over the years for charities such as Foyle Hospice and others particularly close to the hearts of people throughout the North West and further afield. We are delighted to reach this successful milestone and look forward to what the future holds for the Centre over the next 25 years and beyond.”