Global Courant 2023-05-01 13:01:14
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Author of the article:
The Canadian Press
Tara Deschamps
Published on May 01, 2023 • Read for 4 minutes
Rita and Carl Hulme stand with King Charles merchandise at Blimeys British Store and Gift Shop in Essex, Ont. on Sunday, April 16, 2023. Photo by Nicole Osborne /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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When Queen Elizabeth died in September, Carl Hulme happened to be in England – the perfect place to scoop up commemorative fine china, tea towels and canvas bags to stock up on at his Blimeys British Store and Gift Shop in Essex, Ont.
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Most of it had been sold by the time goods marking King Charles’ coronation on May 6 arrived at his store, about 20 miles from the Windsor-Detroit border.
But with the new sovereign’s popularity lower than his mother’s drama and the recent royals, Commonwealth countries clamored to reject the monarchy, Hulme and others weren’t sure there would be a big market for King Charles memorabilia in Canada.
“With the Queen, most of us grew up with her. That’s the only monarch we’ve ever known and so with the queen’s passing, it sort of ended an era, so I wasn’t sure,” Hulme said.
His doubts have since been quashed as Victoria Eggs coronation cups and saucers and Emma Bridgewater mugs celebrating the King’s reign have been selling steadily at Blimeys.
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Elsewhere in Canada and online, coins, stamps, Nespresso coffee pods, McVitie’s cookie jars, Royal Scot Crystal decanters and dresses, pajamas, cushions, socks, make-up bags and Marks crowned teddy bears can be found. & Spencer.
Joanne McNeish, a Toronto Metropolitan University professor who specializes in marketing, suspects the range of products will appeal to Canadian monarchists, royalists, memorabilia collectors, and many who simply want something to mark a historic moment.
“People like a big event and the closer to the event the more the idea of having something to remember will increase, so within Canada…I definitely think there is appetite,” she said.
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She suspects most of the interest will come from older shoppers, who are more attached to anything historic, but said Gen Z is also increasingly fond of nostalgic items.
She estimates that memorabilia collectors, or people who collect items now in the hopes of selling them for a profit years later, will only make up 5 percent of buyers.
Between celebrations, memorabilia, books and tourism, the Center for Retail Research in Norfolk, England, estimates that British consumers will spend more than £1.4 billion ($2.3 billion) on the coronation.
The centre’s director, Joshua Bamfield, estimated that “overseas enthusiasts” will generate £79 million ($132 million) in sales.
“Most of this will of course be the US, but I would have thought Canadians spending on coronation articles would of course be about £8 million ($13 million),” he wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
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“Canadians will come as tourists to see and participate in the coronation, but I didn’t think the Canadian delegation would be larger than 2,000 to 3,000.”
It is difficult for McNeish to predict how strong Canadian sales related to the King’s coronation will be or how they will compare to the interest in memorabilia related to his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1953, many watched the spectacle on newly purchased televisions, and commemorative coins may have seemed inappropriate.
Since then, television has lost its novelty with the rise of live streaming anywhere and on any device, and it’s rare that a major event doesn’t turn into a marketing opportunity milked for profit.
But the Queen’s death aroused warm feelings among many who saw her as a grandmotherly figure.
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“The Queen was different because the Queen was finite and it came to an end,” McNeish said.
“When people are going to die or even after they die, there’s usually a bigger explosion in acquiring something (linked to them).”
The Queen remains the most popular royal, with 80 per cent of UK respondents to the YouGov survey completed in the first quarter of the year expressing a positive opinion of her.
She is followed by her daughter, Princess Anne, then her grandson William, the Prince of Wales and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales.
King Charles is the fifth most popular king, with 55 percent of people surveyed saying they have a positive opinion of him.
The failure of his marriage to the late Princess Diana and her claims that his second wife, Queen Consort Camilla, was to blame, sparked much of the public’s disgust at the king. His son, Prince Harry, who recently left royal life and made allegations of abuse against his family, did not help the king in the appeal.
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However, Hulme said consumers are sympathetic to the king.
“The majority are buying because they feel Charles has been somewhat portrayed in such a bad light by Harry and (Duchess of Sussex) Meghan. They feel they want to support him in some way.”
While Little Taste of Home, a British and Irish retailer near Calgary, had not received its order of King Charles spoons, cups, mugs and plates by mid-April, customers had been asking for weeks when they would arrive.
“It’s a lot of people from England who want to do what they can on this side of the pond to celebrate his coronation,” said staff member Diane Dennis.
“Then there are some people who collect things just because it’s once in a lifetime.”
Asked if the royal drama scared off shoppers at the New Horizon Mall store, she added, “Oh, no, no, definitely not.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 1, 2023.
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