London 2012 shop opens in Paddington Station

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has today announced further details of its retail programme at the opening of its latest retail shop in Paddington Station and the announcement of its in-venue retail operators.

Based in ‘The Lawn’ shopping area of Paddington Station, the 700sq ft space will sell a wide range of London 2012 merchandise including Wenlock and Mandeville mascot soft toys, clothing and accessories, key rings, gifts, pin badges and collectables.

The shop at Paddington Station follows in the footsteps of the successful launch of the store at St Pancras International Station, which opened on July 27 this year. Best sellers at the London 2012 St Pancras store to date are:

1. London 2012 Wenlock and Mandeville mascot soft toys

2. London 2012 Olympic logo pin badge

3. London 2012 men’s Union Jack t-shirt

4. London 2012 Olympic legends Top Trumps cards

5. London 2012 children’s baseball cap

LOCOG has also today announced that its in-venue retail outlets at Games time will be operated by three licensees. These operators will be responsible for managing approximately 80 different points of sales across all Games-time competition and non-competition venues.

- IMG which will operate retail outlets at Wimbledon

- The Retail People which will operate retail outlets at all other all competition and non competition venues

- Event Merchandise which will operate as a special purpose retailer

Further details of the exact locations of the shops will be announced in due course.

LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton commented: ‘Olympic and Paralympic souvenirs are a key part of any Games. Merchandise is an important revenue stream when funding the Games but the products also give people the opportunity to show their support for the London 2012 and for Team GB and ParalympicsGB. Of course, in years to come, many of these souvenirs will become collectors’ items and memories of this once-in-a-lifetime event coming to London and the UK.’

London 2012 now has 36 licensees who will produce and sell London 2012, Team GB and ParalympicsGB merchandise between now and 2012. The programme is expected to generate around £1billion worth of sales, contributing around £80m to the staging of the Games.

For more information, please contact: www.london2012.com

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