Galeries Joliette: a haunted house to attract customers

Les Galeries de Joliette, in Lanaudière, managed to stimulate traffic in their shopping center with the installation of a 6,500 square foot haunted house for Halloween.

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“I’m impressed by the number of animatronics there are in the house, and it’s really made for the whole family. I had little ones, big ones with me, everyone was satisfied,” rejoiced Dominique Lachance Lauzé, responsible for Reception and tourism promotion for the Greater Joliette Chamber of Commerce.

The visit is free, but the benefits are equivalent to those of a Santa Claus activity.

“It’s my best activity in a long time. I am so proud to have met the initiator of the project, dear Nicolas. We had nearly 7,500 visitors in two weeks,” explained Josianne Proulx, marketing communications coordinator for Galeries Joliette.

The objective was to stimulate traffic in the shopping center and make the spirit of Halloween accessible to everyone.

“We really want to attract all families from Greater Joliette and the entire Lanaudière area to reclaim the shopping center, then come and experience great free activities together,” said Ms.^me Proulx.

The challenge was met with flying colors, as the numbers soared.

“It’s essential and it would take me every month. It makes all the difference, we see, because we now have good systems to know how many people are returning. It explodes our figures, and obviously there is an impact on all retailers, then also on the art of restoration, of course,” she continued.

A personal investment

The organizer has been preparing for this event since April.

“We have been working on this since April, the plans, the construction of the panels, the painting. We currently occupy 6,500 square feet and we are aiming for 10, 11, 12,000 square feet in terms of haunted house. [l’année prochaine].»

The haunted house cost Nicolas Gamelin around $150,000 and he financed it with personal investments.

Some characters can cost up to $500.

“There are about 200 [personnages] that move around us. It’s a passion that was born since I was very little,” he explained.

“The haunted house took off in Saint-Michel-des-Saints. The organizations there helped me raise the project, and then it has only grown since,” he continued.

Once Halloween has passed, the characters will go into repair, and it will be time to take inventory. We will then have to prepare for next year.