Magnum pop-up stores in for the long lick

28 December 2014 - 22:29 By Thekiso Anthony Lefifi
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The first local Magnum Pleasure outlet in Rosebank, Johannesburg, has proved how ice-cream crazy South Africans are, with the pop-up store selling a world record of 1200 ice creams on December 16.

The Magnum store has been so successful that the company decided to extend its duration until the end of the year, instead of shutting its doors for business on December 24 as planned.

The long queues outside the store have become a familiar sight in Rosebank.

Rob Muirhead, a director of MbongiWorks, the marketing agency behind the concept store, said they had expected to sell an average of 500 ice creams a day for the eight weeks of trade.

The store sales volumes have grown by 12% each week, even though the main goal was to build brand awareness and not sales.

Revenue, at about R40000 a day, is more than double what was anticipated.

"It has been a incredible success," Muirhead said.

The idea behind the store was to give ice cream lovers the chance to create their own ice cream.

For R40, customers can cover their ice cream in decadent chocolate or vanilla dips, then choose a topping from a selection of nearly 20 options such as edible roses, honeycomb brittle, popping candy and chocolate pecan cookies.

Joburgers have queued for more than two hours for the three-minute "Make my Magnum" experience.

The Magnum pop-up store next heads to Cape Town, where it will trade from Cavendish Square in Claremont from January 17 to March 17. Muirhead said there were plans to take the store to Durban over the Easter holidays.

The Magnum Pleasure Store concept has been travelling the world since 2012, from New York to Paris, Amsterdam and Istanbul.

They are not permanent retail stores, but entrepreneurs have made enquiries about buying a franchise.

Part of the increased interest for premium luxury ice cream might be because the sector is predicted to grow by almost 30% from last year to 2017 in South Africa, according to research company Euromonitor.

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