Whether it was the perfect time for a wardrobe upgrade or replacing old make up and brushes or grabbing some last minute bargains in the sales the Style Squad team decided to ‘surprise and delight’ some lucky shoppers at The Centre, Livingston and pay for their purchases!
With over 150 stores to choose from including River Island, H&M, Flannels and M&S and so many great places to enjoy a bite to eat, like wagamama, Nando’s and Five Guys, the shopping centre is top of the list for people to visit locally and from further afield to enjoy a great day out.
We caught up with everyone from friends on a mission to get 2025 off to a new stylish start, popping into stores like River Island and H&M to embrace the ‘out with the old, in with the new’ January tradition and snapping up oversized jumpers and hoodies to team up with joggers and leggings – cosy, comfy and cute – to couples browsing for gift ideas and gym wear.
With burgundy and cream colours, and a splash of cherry-red, trending this season we came across some shoppers going for a new fresh look by injecting some seasonal shades into their wardrobe and new prints too, with anything leopard designed continuing to be very popular.
What they didn’t expect when we caught up with them was to be taken by surprise with the offer of giving them a £25 Gift Card towards their shopping, resulting in a few whoops, jumps for joy and a tear or two.
First up on our radar to ‘surprise and delight’ was barista Mollie Atkinson and shop manager, Declan Pierce from Dunfermline, who we stopped at the till in River Island to pay for Mollie’s new bag and jewellery.
Mollie said: “I can’t believe I’ve been this lucky today to have my bag paid for me!
“We’ve been enjoying a day out at the shopping centre, with Declan treating himself to animation figurines from Waterstones, then we had lunch at Five Guys.
“I thought I’d nip into River Island to see if I could find a new bag for a party I’m going to on Saturday and landed lucky, not only finding one I love but being gifted it by the shopping centre!
Next up was Erin Ennis from West Lothian who is studying to be a music teacher at university, who was treating herself to a new glitzy top in Quiz for her birthday celebrations. Erin was enjoying a day out with her mum, which they do regularly at The Centre, Livingston, often enjoying a bite to eat in Nando’s, when we stopped to ask her if we could pay for her new top.
Erin said: “I definitely wasn’t expecting my purchase to be paid for today – what a lovely surprise. I’m over the moon, thank you! It feels like my birthday has come early this year.”
On a mission to gift even more shoppers with the offer of paying for their purchases, we bumped into local mum Carol Goldie, who is a customer service adviser, with her daughter Rebecca in Bodycare, who both love shopping and are big fans of The Centre, Livingston.
Caroline said: “We are blown away with how lovely it was to be stopped at the till in Bodycare when we were buying new make-up brushes, with the offer to pay for them. We were really just nipping into a few shops to enjoy some time together and grab a bite to eat and can’t believe how lucky we were – thank you!”
Caitlyn McParland from Glasgow, who was enjoying a shopping day out with her Grandma, was another lucky shopper to be picked in the ‘surprise and delight’ walkabout when she was buying a very cute pair of Adidas trainers for her friend’s little boy and a baseball cap for herself in Foot Locker.
Caitlyn said: “Not for a minute was I expecting my purchases to be paid for today – what a really nice thing for the shopping centre to do!
It was lovely to catch up Euphemia Wynne from Bathgate, who was shopping with her daughter in M&S, which is her favourite store.
After enjoying lunch in the café it was time to check out the sales where she snapped up a beautiful brown sequinned top, matched perfectly with a green cardigan from their latest collection.
Euphemia said: “I always find something really nice in M&S, which I’ve shopped in for years. I wanted to find a nice top for special occasions in the sales and as I was browsing I spotted a lovely green cardigan, which is my favourite colour, in the knitwear section.
“When I was stopped and asked if I’d like my sequin top paid for as a little gift from the shopping centre, I couldn’t believe it. It was such a lovely surprise which I’m very grateful for – thank you so much! It really made my day.”
Last up on our mission to surprise visitors by paying for their shopping was University student Jamie Lee McCormack from West Lothian who was picking up some bits and pieces in H&M, including two jumpers, for her upcoming holiday to Amsterdam.
She said: “I really love coming to The Centre, Livingston, whether it’s for a new holiday wardrobe from Primark or special outfit for a night out or even just to have a wander, but the highlight today was definitely having my purchases paid for by the team at the shopping centre – nothing like this has ever happened to me before – it was such a great surprise, thank you so much.”
Patrick Robbertze, Centre Director at The Centre, Livingston said: “It was an absolute delight to stop some lucky shoppers at The Centre, Livingston in our first ‘surprise and delight’ walkabout of the year and offer to pay for their purchases.
“Not only was it a great opportunity for us to chat to our visitors and find out more about their trip to the shopping centre but it also gave us the chance to bring a little bit of joy to their day.”
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