the big interview Our main


consultants are our customers. We watch where they go, what they look at, and listen to what they say


views out to the outdoor area, so hopefully later in the season they’ll be eyeing up what they want to buy from here.” While the business has for a long time had


what might be deemed more recent industry developments, such as on-site catering and a significant Christmas offering, it does not mean it hasn’t moved with the times. “The business has changed a lot over the


years,” says Jill. “If it was a new purpose- designed site we’d probably do things in a completely different way, but you live with what you’ve got. We’ve adapted, and there’s been more retail elements added along with the plants. Plants are still a big part of our business. A lot of people come and say, ‘It’s not a garden centre any more’, but that’s simply because we’ve got so much other stuff too. But that’s how the industry is.” Peter adds: “We used to grow our own


plants, but at our size it’s hard to both grow and sell plants. Now it’s the nursery’s job to grow it, and our job to look after it and sell it. Unless you’ve got a great nursery and a great person in charge of it, you’ll find yourself trying to shift substandard product. If someone brings in something from an external nursery and I’m not happy with it, I can send it away. I’m not saying it’s not good to grow things on the premises, but it’s hard. If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be the best. And being the best is not easy.”


‘We don’t stand still’


Getting to tailor a unique approach is one of the joys of being an independent business, Jill believes. “We often visit smaller towns, and you see lovely shops that you won’t find anywhere else,” she says. “We’ve changed a lot, even in more recent times. We don’t stand still. As an independent, you can be flexible and respond to your local customers.”


There has been investment behind the scenes in the warehousing, allowing the business to hold more stock, and a new fire safety system. Another of those recent developments has been adding a 120 square metre Weber World area to the store, with a range of products, accessories and branding from the barbecue manufacturer. Jill adds: “It gives us an exclusive, as the only Weber World in Cheshire. Hopefully that will give people a reason to come and visit us.” Driving footfall is always a challenge,


especially as demographics and retail channels shift, and any expenditure has to be


Gordale has come a long way since its early days, with the business founded in 1948


looked at carefully. “How do you communicate with the next generation?” asks Jill. “We spent £150,000 on an advertising campaign last year. Would we have been better off spending that elsewhere? Should we have spent that on staffing, making sure that every customer that comes into store gets the best possible service?” Peter notes: “We do leaflets, but you tend to


get low response rates. We do magazines, we’ve done TV, we’ve done radio, Facebook. Does it do anything, or does it get lost in amongst everything else? There’s a lot of noise out there, and a lot of competition for people’s time and attention. You do have to decide how you spend money. That advertising outlay could pay staff, or go towards a new building or investment behind the scenes.” Any bricks and mortar retailer needs to give


increasing attention to the commerciality of all of its space, especially with changes to rateable values. “We can’t afford to have a customer come


in, we them all about a barbecue, say, then they go and buy it £200 cheaper somewhere else,” Peter says. “The new Weber World area is 120 square metres. Each square metre is £70 rateable value. So one product in this half metre squared is costing £35 a year, just to occupy that space. That’s just the rate, not the lighting for the building, the staffing; whatever we have anywhere in the store has to earn. If it doesn’t sell enough, really we have to find something else that does sell. “It’s quite scary, isn’t it, to think that one


stand is costing £35 a year just to be there. The rate increases are scary for us. We’ve had our rates increased by 42% in this latest round of revaluations. Every square metre costs money, so it’s a brave thing to give products the space they need. It’s a difficult one for a shop, because you want as much diversification as you can in your building, but the customer has to be able to see what they’re buying.”


GCU May 2017 www.gardencentreupdate.com | 5


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