A Big Year for Lifestyle & Mobility
Wednesday 12th April saw the Grand Opening of “Lifestyle” the new flagship store of Lifestyle & Mobility. Not just this, but Lifestyle & Mobility has recently turned 21. There’s been a lot to celebrate, so a big thank you to everyone who joined us for the celebrations! For those who weren’t there, ITV News Anglia caught a bit of the action, as you can see here.
Basildon-based radio station Gateway 97.8 were also on the scene, hearing from Lifestyle & Mobility founder Ron Sverdloff and our guest of honour Anne Wafula Strike.
An Inspirational Guest
Lifestyle & Mobility’s new flagship store is an impressive place, so we needed to find an even more impressive guest of honour to cut the ribbon. Paralympian Anne Wafula Strike MBE fit the bill perfectly. In addition to being the first wheelchair racer from Sub-Saharan Africa to compete at the Paralympics, she is a well-known inspirational speaker. She took plenty of time to chat to all our guests who turned out, so many thanks are due her.
If you missed the opportunity to hear from Anne in person, it’s worth taking a moment to learn a little about her life story.
Born in Kenya, Anne was struck with polio aged just two. Her recovery was partial, leaving her wheelchair reliant. Determined not to, as she puts it “let disability be a death sentence” she became a qualified teacher, a mother, a disability advocate, and charity champion. She was presented with her MBE by the Queen in 2007 for her work in athletics and with disability charities.
Twenty-One and Counting
Grand Opening day
Our 21st birthday party had one big difference from most – it was our guests who got the presents. We’re not just talking about food, drink, and big discounts here, but the free raffle to win a brand-new scooter. Congratulations to Richard, our big prize winner on Grand Opening day!
Of course, no celebration is complete without music, and we were lucky enough to have a performance from Scarlet Swing at Lifestyle to soundtrack the big day. Their vintage vocal harmony work was an excellent fit for the sophisticated setting which Lifestyle & Mobility have worked so hard to create for our customers at Eastgate. We certainly hope that they had as good a time performing at the ceremony as we did listening to them!
Lifestyle & Mobility Eastgate Branch – Branching Out
Anne and Ron in “Lifestyle”
Speaking of that sophisticated setting, it’s important to emphasise how much our team wanted to do something a bit different with the Basildon store. Our new flagship goes by “Lifestyle” This reflects its role as selling a wider range of products besides mobility equipment.
On Lifestyle’s second floor, visitors will find “Lifestyle & Home”, stocking a stunning range of luxurious and ergonomic furniture, from armchairs to double beds. It may not be what you’d expect from a typical mobility store, but Lifestyle & Mobility have never been about following the crowd, and furniture of the kind available now in Eastgate is totally in keeping with our ethos.
The Lifestyle & Home section of our new store really does have to be seen to be believed. “Lifestyle” deliberately avoids the stereotypes attached to mobility stores. We’re sure you’ll be blown away by this beautiful addition to our state-of-the-art store. Highlights include eco-friendly profiling mattresses made with recycled ocean plastics, and a demonstration lounge setup offering birds’ eye views over the central concourse.
More Mobility
A big part of our mission is removing limitations from people’s lives. That’s why we’ve stocked electric bikes for some time now, to great customer response. Now we’ve taken the next step, so to speak, offering paddleboards from up-and-coming company Tidal Rave. They were also at the Grand Opening to show off their eye-catching products.
As technology advances, we’re confident that many more exciting and unexpected products will enter the line-up at Lifestyle. Without giving too much away right now, do keep an eye out for big things to come with “Lifestyle & Bicycles”
Our prescriptive mobility product offerings are beautifully showcased at Lifestyle. Powerchairs for all needs and budgets are available for visitors to try out, with expert advice always on hand from our highly trained staff.
Worth noting is that our Basildon store offers some of Nexus Rehab’s range. Nexus is a new brand and company established by Lifestyle & Mobility to provide a dedicated and specialist service for our customers with complex rehabilitation needs. It is also another example of how the diversification of Lifestyle & Mobility as it matures is allowing us to tailor our approach to individuals’ needs even more than we already do.
Remembering our Roots
Whilst there’s been a lot of new developments at Lifestyle & Mobility as we enter our third decade, the company’s objectives remain the same.
“Lifestyle & Home”
Lifestyle & Mobility exist to provide the highest-quality products, market-leading expertise and unrivalled aftercare. All this is done in service of enhancing the mobility, comfort, dignity, and quality of life of our customers.
Lifestyle in Basildon, and our other stores in Bournemouth, Harlow, Southend and Welwyn Garden City are constantly evolving to stay at the forefront of life-enhancing products
When he founded the Scooter Club in 2002 in the aftermath of a tragic road accident suffered by a friend, Ron Sverdloff knew nothing about mobility products. He learned the trade in the most hands-on way imaginable – building a powerchair for his friend, who was left paraplegic by the crash. This is an especially poignant memory for Ron, who was also caught up in the accident, since his friend later died because of the injuries he sustained.
Today, with the Grand Opening of “Lifestyle”, the company Ron built is scaling heights he says he could never have imagined. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, and so excited about what the future holds.
And we couldn’t have done it without you – our brilliant customers.
Thank you all so much.