A stylish addition has arrived at Basingstoke's Festival Place (From Basingstoke Gazette)

A stylish women's fashion retailer Internacionale has arrived at Basingstoke's Festival Place

12:33pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Business By Richard Garfield

A BRIGHT modern shop with the latest trends for fashion-conscious women has become the newest addition to Basingstoke’s award-winning Festival Place.
Internacionale, which is fast becoming a major high street player, opened for business last Thursday at the former Peacocks site.
Speaking on the day the 7,000 sq ft store opened, manager Frances Humby described the premises as fantastic.
“It’s lovely and so spacious,” she said. “To see the transformation from what the store was like just a week ago to now, is amazing. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it has been worth it.”
“And we’ve had great reactions from our customers. We had posters up in the windows, announcing that we were about to open, so we had a bit of a crowd this morning.”
Business certainly got off to a brisk start as first day shoppers received a 20 per cent discount voucher to spend in store.
Frances said the new store employs 22 people, including part-time staff, one of whom previously worked for Peacocks.
The retailer has around 150 stores throughout the UK, with 12 new ones opening this year.
Enjoying her new challenge, Frances said: “It’s our responsibility to introduce this new brand to Basingstoke – that’s our mission.”
She said Internacionale caters for girls aged eight to 15, including a back-to-school range, and for women from size six to 18 at affordable prices.
Frances added: “We are in a good position here at Festival Place, with great footfall, especially as we are close to the train station, so anyone coming into town will walk past us.
“Unlike a lot of shops in the shopping centre, we’re open from 9am every morning to take advantage of the good footfall.
“When this store became available, we jumped at the opportunity as it is such an important market for our brand.”
Frances said Internacionale’s strategy is to be one of the UK’s top 50 shopping destinations.
“We want to raise the profile of our brand and increase our market share.”