Despite many World Book Day events being postphoned due to the snow storms which battered the UK last week, the Roald Dahl Story Company has reported seeing more support for the landmark literary event than ever before, with dress-up playing a key part.
Retailers nationwide including George @ Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Argos and Morrisons sold a record number of Smiffy’s Roald Dahl dress up costumes, with the category expected to deliver a year-on-year uplift of more than 100% (WBD 2018 v WBD 2017).
Social media was also flooded with pictures of children dressed up as their favourite Roald Dahl characters in costumes, both bought or made carefully at home.
“Smiffys is delighted to have contributed towards another successful World Book Day. Despite the weather, parents and children braved the elements and really engaged with the event,” commented director Dominique Peckett.
“The characters from the Dahl storey books are very popular in both independent and multiple retailers,” she added. “For the 2018 collection, we worked closely with the Roald Dahl Estate to freshen up the offering, introducing additional characters including James and the Giant Peach, Verruca Salt and Violet Beauregard, which were very well received, hence the achievement of record sales.”
“With new and exciting designs for 2019 already under development, we look forward to building upon the success of 2018 with the Roald Dahl story company.”
