Industry View Trading Intelligence
Shop name: Gloucester Sports Location: Worcester Street, Gloucester Owner: Steve Millward Opened: 1982, with new owners from 2009 Affiliation: STAG Number of staff: Two full-time and three/four part-time Speciality: Running, rugby, football
Not a lot of people know this about my business, but ….
As new owners, myself, Lofty and Rob took over the shop in January 2009 after the previous owner had started it up 28 years ago. All three of us are from a running background, with Lofty and Rob both being UK Athletics Level 3 coaches. My previous job was working on behalf of Nike as a tech rep for five years, working with specialist running shops throughout the UK, but ultimately I always wanted to get my own shop and this opportunity came up. Despite working six or seven days a week, I have managed to claim six regional steeplechase titles and my first UK Inter-Counties title this year. On the roads I've run 14.58 for 5km and 31.39 for 10km.
How is business at the moment?
Tough, as it seems to be for most retailers in the trade. We have noticed that team kit sales have dropped noticeably as people search for the cheapest prices, while running apparel sales have also slowed.
What has been the greatest success for your business over the past 12 months?
As the person who does all the buying for the business, there is nothing more satisfying for me than getting a new product in and seeing it sell out or sell through very well. Adidas running shoes have been doing well for us this year despite being relatively new to the store, in particular the Adizero range of performance and racing shoes which I personally wear. Certain boots from Mizuno, Gilbert and KooGa have also sold through well.
What recent supplier initiative has been successful? Brooks have just launched a competition to win one of 50 running holidays, for anyone who buys a pair of Brooks shoes in November and December. From our perspective, it's a clever idea as the person who sells the shoe to the customer will also win a holiday so it has incentivised my staff to promote Brooks shoes. Hilly has also been good as it has provided us with some giveaways for anyone who spends more than a certain amount, often encouraging them to add more items just to make the numbers up.
What will be the biggest challenge for your business over the next 12 months?
Trying to grow the business. We feel there is much room for improvement, in terms of growing the internet side, together with bringing more people through the door.
Steve Millward, owner of independent retailer Gloucester Sports, questions the rising cost of running shoes without significantm improvements that would justify such an increase.
Running is one of Gloucester Sports’ specialty areas, and running shoe sales are holding their own in the market. We do well with spikes and performance shoes, as well.
The difficulty for us comes with the continual price rises from some of the running brands, which do not correlate to significant improvements in the shoes, and which are way above the rate of inflation.
This is forcing more people to look on the internet for cheaper alternatives which devalues the brand and puts the independents at risk. We are looking at developing online sales anyway, but due to the over-inflated prices of running shoes, this is becoming a priority. I feel it will be more difficult to provide quality products in-store at the right price that customers are willing to buy.
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