Retail Interview
Gordon Mackenzie inside his Silver
Street store in Gainsborough.
We meet up with one of the seven original
members of the Cardgains scheme - Mackenzie
Cards in Gainsborough and fi nd out how
recession helped put it on the map.
Market
Leader
ecessions come and go and
“Independents
Mackenzie has remarried. the right image.”
R
whenever there’s a downturn The market stall in Brigg was still going but Mackenzie has also profi ted by being in tune
there’s always opportunity as
have got
took longer to take off. When it did, Mackenzie with his customer base and stocking his shops
well. That’s something Gordon
to be more
applied the same successful formula and with the right product and a wide range of price
Mackenzie can relate to as he decided to open a retail store – this time with a points. Designs featuring “lots of words” go
looks back over his years in the card trade. professional mortgage, which has since been paid off. down well with Mackenzie’s customers who are
Mackenzie can also remember when he
with the
Looking at the current downturn and its im- particularly fond of “strong verses”.
fi rst signed up as a member of buying group, pact on card retailing, Mackenzie is philosophi- “When you have a Clintons or a Birthdays
Cardgains over 20 years ago. right fixtures cal about the impact on the independents. in the town they aim at the younger market,
“I joined the fi rst day it launched,” he says
and fittings
“Somehow it got easier to raise £5m to while we focus on the older generation that
from his Silver Street store in Gainsborough, open a chain of shops than funding to open likes a lot of verse and art.”
Lincolnshire. “I knew the people behind it and
because
one store,” he says. “That availability of cash Currently, Mackenzie is offering cards from
that it was being launched at an exhibition at
presentation
changed the industry and led to the rise of the 29 pence all the way to £4.99 and stocks his
Olympia so I went down there walked straight multiples.“ shops with around 25% of wholesale product.
to the stand and told them I’d like to be a
is vital to
Couldn’t he have done the same and More recently he has added the Simply Said
member. I think they were delighted to have opened more stores using the same suc- range from Budget Greetings Cards, which
a new member two minutes after the show
create the
cessful formula for the opening of his sites in retails for around 59 pence.
opened!”
right image.”
Gainsborough and Brigg? Mackenzie also buys every week, which
Mackenzie had been running his card “I’m not confi dent enough,” he states mat- allows him to tweak his pockets very easily.
stores in Gainsborough and nearby Brigg for ter of factly. “I couldn’t sleep at night worrying The stores were originally stocked with 50% of
over fi ve years beforehand, but began his about the kind of money needed to run a big- wholesale cards but as his customer base de-
card-selling career on the markets during the ger chain. I’m happy with what I’ve got.” manded better quality that fi gure has dropped
70s version of the credit crunch. Mackenzie currently faces stiff opposition to 25%.
“It was the three day week that started it from a Clintons store in Gainsborough but Mackenzie also runs his stores without
all for me,” says Mackenzie. ”I was working for seems unfazed by the opposition. Epos and uses tickets to keep on top of his
an engineering company at the time when we “Clintons’ strength is in sale or return,” stockholding.
went to three days working and decided to try says Mackenzie. “They can keep their shelves And despite the downturn, sales are slightly
and do something else on the days off. Things fully stocked and send it back if they need to. up due to increased volumes as people look
weren’t looking good for engineering in the That’s where we lose out to them. around for best prices. In contrast, the biggest
town so I thought about selling cards on the “But we can compete on price and selec- problem for Mackenzie has been in gifts, which
local markets at Scunthorpe, Doncaster and tion and be more fl exible, which is where our despite a strong Valentines Day showing has
Gainsborough. advantage lies.” dropped in sales.
“It went really well and I ended up making Mackenzie believes that independents “Basically we’re having to sell twice as
more on the markets in two days than I was need to sharpen up if they are to compete with much to maintain the same sales – that’s what
earning in three at the engineering company.” their bigger, better-funded rivals, including the we’ve found,” says Mackenzie.
When Mackenzie’s employers fi nally supermarkets.
announced a return to normal working he ‘You’ve got to be more professional,” he
decided that retail could be the way forward, says. “You’ve got to have the right fi xtures
Working with Cardgains
fi nally managing to secure a lease on the and fi ttings and build the right displays. You
“It’s been a real benefi t to us being in the
current Silver Street site after two years of need to really focus on that because presen-
Cardgains scheme,” says Mackenzie.
searching. tation and display is very important to create
“We would not have got he same level
“I told my employers I was going and got
of discount from the suppliers as we have
the lease in November, just before Christmas,”
says Mackenzie. “Originally I traded the shop CARDGAINS MAGNIFICENT
received via Cardgains and that has given
as wholesale and kept the market stall going SEVEN
us a very signifi cant edge against rival
because it was doing the same business as
retailers.
the shop.” Cardgains is the national buying group for
“We also like having access to new sup-
After fi ve years Mackenzie negotiated to independent gift and greeting card retailers
pliers and being able to ring them up and
buy the freehold of the shop for the fantastical in the UK.
sum of £40,000 - a huge sum in those days. As part of Cardgains 20th Anniversary celebrations, the retailers
start trading with them instantly. It really
“It was the best investment I ever made,” who have been trading with the scheme since it started have been
helps when we are looking for new stock.
he says before adding ruefully: “Until I got honoured as the Magnifi cent Seven and inducted into Cardgains
“And of course having all the admin
divorced!” ‘Hall of Fame’. The seven retailers that signed up with Cardgains in
done with one statement is a real blessing.
Happily, the store was remortgaged and 1989 are all still trading as independent stores in the scheme.
One cheque and that’s it.
is almost back in outright ownership while
20 Greetings Today
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