electronics and, typical of America, has developed a life of its own. The fact that it was able to raise $70 million by private subscription to put up a concert hall and theatre is indicative of the spirit of the area. I would guess that by the time all the sums are added up it will demonstrate that each party has gone a long way to achieving its objectives namely additional business for the stores and also for Britain.
The Ambassador has commented on the very great effort put in both by members of Post on the spot and especially Reg Holloway and all those concerned in the UK. It is too early to assess whether the additional business for British goods obtained by the promotion will benefit UK Ltd and UK business in particular over the long run. There is no doubt, however, that during the period that Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus Ogilvy were there the British took over in every sense. As was to be expected, Her Royal Highness charmed everybody and there was no likelihood of a second Boston tea-party.
My guess is that one could only achieve this level of success in an area where there is immense community spirit, especially where there is a local desire to out do a rival, in this case Los Angeles itself.
There is no doubt in my mind that the actual store promotions were excellently arranged and the British firms selling into those stores had done a very good job. The location and the local optimism lent a great deal to the success.
The Ambassador has already commented on 'Chelsea comes to California'. I was originally concerned that having this in a cleverly designed marquee on the top of a car park was not necessarily an ideal location to draw a crowd. However, I was assured by the locals whom I met, that the fact of Chelsea coming to California was a great local talking point and I believe it will be shown that a great many people did in fact go there despite the heat and the earthquake but they did not necessarily spend their money. In my view, the stands divided themselves into two groups; firstly those that had something which was original and striking and for which the locals were well prepared to pay a high price. A number of the other stands provided goods which were gimmicky or not particularly original for which the locals were not prepared to pay an inflated price. Undoubtedly the change of price due to the $2 Pound did make prices look high but I do suspect that some one-third of the exhibitors would not have succeeded anyway. Clearly, this particular promotion has to be looked at very carefully before embarking on it for a second time.
I conclude this part of my report with particular congratulations and sympathy for Reg Holloway who had sadly broken his arm only some 2 days before the whole event started. Despite that, he carried on magnificently.