local customer base. “We’d been looking for a place like this new


site for seven or eight years,” he said. The new offices, distribution hub and


superstore are located within a new development area which was an ex-mining site, and has received government funding for new retail, industrial building and a 3,500 housing development. It has great connections to the M1 and is close to the major conurbations of Sheffield and Rotherham.” “We had to transition to here, we had to get


the warehouse racked out and all the systems operating, and get that working first,” Rob said. “That took the first year and the second year


we developed the store; we started planning in the spring and in summer started bringing brands on board. I must thank all the brands for their support especially Samsung, Panasonic, Hisense, Hotpoint, Hoover /Haier. “The fit and build lasted three months; so it’s


been two years non-stop to get to this point.” AM Systems designed the main area of the


store and Symphony invested in a superb kitchen area, following an initial conversation with the furniture manufacturer in the summer. “I always thought store needed something


more than rows of TVs and appliances, so we looked to inspire customers with kitchen displays and room sets/ cinema rooms.” Rob said. “We talked to Robert Williamson, Symphony’s national business development manager, a few times and he was very keen to work with us. “Robert’s a great ambassador for Symphony


and I felt this was a company we could work with; we went to Barnsley to see Symphony in the summer.” Rob continued: “Symphony love the independents, and they couldn’t do enough for us. Talking to Symphony they seemed really interested in your business, happy to see you and want to do business with you. “We had a tour round the factory, saw the fantastic Marketing Suite; when customers come in, they see the kitchens straightaway and that entices them.” Mr Williamson added: “Symphony’s


investment in this store is £50,000 in terms of margin loss and fitting; we know that we’ll get the payback on it and we trust Rob and Mel.” Rob said that in the first week he had 15


enquires from customers in the kitchen area of the store. “The guys are not fully trained yet, but they’re going through the training programmes. I know Symphony will support them all the way,” Rob said., “We didn’t push the kitchens during the opening, but people approached the Symphony representatives and it started from there.” A key feature of any store is its car park and


the new Crampton & Moore store does not disappoint – customers can choose from 250 car park spaces! “We’ll market this superstore as the best place


in the area,” Rob said. “John Lewis in Sheffield has closed down and there’s only Currys and some smaller independents left. “We’ve got the service and we’ve got the


availability. If you want 10 washers, we’ve got 500. We’ve got tons in stock – our stockholding is over £8 million. To support the store opening, Crampton


& Moore invested in social media, radio advertising and a 100,000 leaflet drop, “We had a fantastic opening day, we were


SDA display


very happy with the large queue of customers,” Rob said. “We tried to make it an exciting event with a free drinks, jazz band and radio live broadcast” “When we start promoting kitchens, I think


we can do really well. We’ve got the first kitchen planning meetings with customers starting next week.” Rob said that the business invested heavily


June Moore, John Moore and Rob Moore Winter 2023/24


in designing and fitting the new store, and with manufacturer support invested around £700,000 including a new customer coffee shop. The business currently has 50 staff, and Rob concedes that staff numbers are growing all the time. “We’ve got a call centre here, and people


probably find it easy to deal with us,” he said. “If there’s a problem, we pride ourselves on dealing with customers quickly and efficiently. “I always plan for the worst, and if they turn


out to be better than that, then we’re in a good position. I think we’ve still got potential for natural growth and we’re also moving into new markets and new ways of marketing that we’re considering.” He continued: “The key is availability and


trying to use our stock holding that we’ve got to leverage. “We know that if people go to Currys in this


area, they probably won’t have everything in stock in store; if we have, then we can promote that it’s available, from today! “Next day Prime delivery is Amazon’s main


strength. If we can say you can have it today, I think that could be a powerful proposition for customers, whether they are the public, small businesses or landlords.” Looking ahead, Rob said that Crampton &


Moore will launch an incentive scheme next year. “You’ve got to try and give people a reason to


stay loyal and give them good reason to come back,” he said.


www.ierdaily.co.uk | 19 First customer - bought a 43in Hisense TV Home cinema room


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