Angling Direct Opens First European Store

After recently opening our 50th store in the UK, we thought why stop at 50! WIth that in mind, we thought that it was about time for us to move into Europe and at the start of June, we celebrated the opening of our first store in mainland Europe.

Based in the town of Utrecht in Holland, we found this to be the ideal spot to start our European adventure with several fishing venues in the area, covering both carp and predator fishing, giving the many anglers based in the town plenty of fishing. Not only that, but the town has great transport links with Amsterdam and Rotterdam less than an hours drive away. 

To celebrate its opening, we ran an open day weekend where customers were able to not only take a look at the stores new layout, but also have a chance to meet some of the top anglers in the Netherlands representing brands such as Daiwa, Nash and Westin. With over 1000 anglers visiting this new store over this weekend, it was a successful weekend, with a lot of positive feedback from customers visiting the store.

This Grand Opening Weekend was also the first chance for Angling Direct to display our Advanta brand ‘in the flesh’ for the first time, with several customers taking advantage of our opening day exclusive 25% discount on all Advanta products. Furthermore, with the recent roll out of our exclusive MyAD membership programme into Europe, anglers now have the opportunity to sign up in store, with several anglers visiting the store taking advantage of the exclusive offers and everyday low prices.

This new store as the first Angling Direct store across the English Channel represents the start of a new learning curve for the company. With Craig Jones, Angling Direct’s Chief Operation Officer stating “We are inviting our customers to give us their views on the store and tell us what they want. The next three to six months will be important as the store evolves and we ensure that we have all the brands to meet the needs of our new customers.”