Average Spend: £80 THE BALANCE SHEET
The Find, Stone Street, Cranbrook
Year One (2006-07) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
By year two, losses doubled and the
store has continued losing money. Sales also slipped at Cranbrook. “We don’t know what we did wrong,” says Leat. The Find’s transactional website,
which launched earlier this year, has also fallen short of expectations. At present it is selling one or two items a week, yet it is taking a lot of time to manage.
Family affair: Georgie, Ian and Wendy The Sevenoaks store is managed by
Wendy and Ian Leats’ daughter Georgie, who has a flair for buying and managing projects but is quieter than her self- confessed “chatterbox” mother. She sometimes struggles to connect with shoppers, who tend to be more stand- offish in Sevenoaks. The brand mix was addressed, with
labels such as Paule Vasseur, Ispirato and Mascara added to the offer. The Leats also did marketing in the local press, offering discounts and hosting catwalk events, but they made no difference.
The next step “We know we might have to close the Sevenoaks store, and we are looking into the implications of that [in terms of estate agent fees]”, says Leat. However, Leat is worried her finan-
cial situation means she may not be able to afford to close the second shop because of the costs. The rent is £21,000 per annum and The Find in Sevenoaks still has nine years left on its lease. The Find also owes money to
suppliers and is struggling to pay them because it can’t sell their stock. Sales will have to pick up if it is to have the budget to buy stock for spring 11. l
The advice from Mary Portas
The Leats know how to run a good indie, with the right brand mix for the target market, a focus on personal service that inspires loyal customers, and an
appropriate control on costs. The past success of the Cranbrook store shows that. But they expanded for the wrong reasons and made a mistake thinking they could simply replicate the formula they had used once in another location. The Sevenoaks store serves a different
audience to the one in Cranbrook. They also have the wrong person in charge of the Sevenoaks store. To Wendy, fronting
the Cranbrook store and inspiring loyalty in her customers comes naturally, but her daughter Georgie is quieter and – while she has plenty of talents – lacks the showmanship necessary to run an indie. Instead of having one successful
business the Leats are on the road to two failing ones. My advice is to shut the Sevenoaks store and focus on developing the business online. Georgie has the focus and imagination to oversee this sort of project, while removing the drain on funds of the Sevenoaks store would allow the Leats to invest more in new stock for the Cranbrook shop – reviving that and helping it respond to the changes in its customers’ demands.
Year Two (2007-08) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
Year Three (2008-09) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
Year Four (2009-10) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
£212,716 £99,659 £31,811
£195,607 £95,150 £50,359
£156,670 £63,240 £13,752
The Find, London Road, Sevenoaks Average spend: £35
Year One ( six weeks in 2007/08) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
Year Two (2008-09) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
Year Three (2009-10) Sales:
Gross Profit: Net Profit:
£25,780 £12,314 -£7,185
£140,248 £68,147 -£14,484
£124,899 £50,415 -£32,115
December 3 2010 Drapers 35
£183,826 £95,247 £50,179
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