talking trends Lakeland looks to 2019
Monday February 4 2019 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM
Lakeland buying & merchandising director Samm Swain gives her product trend predictions for the next 12 months
going to be fermentation… it’s going to be all the things that protect you, your body and the environment. “Fermenting and all of the health benefits that it brings is going from strength to strength. Our range of fermenting products has certainly hit the right note with our customers. “Whether you’ve been inspired by the appearance of kimchi on your burger, or by the kefir now readily available on your supermarket shelves, or perhaps you’ve been reading Dunja Gulin’s ‘Fermented Foods’ book, fermentation is predicted to keep on growing.” She added: “But we really couldn’t talk about
A
product developments and trends without mentioning plastics and the evolution of environmentally-friendly products following the ‘Blue Planet’ effect.” This is a reference to the BBC nature documentary series which highlighted the damage that plastics are doing to our oceans. “Lakeland is constantly looking for new
products to address the issues,” she said. “2018 saw the nation continuing to seek ways to
ccording to Lakeland buying & merchandising director Samm Swain, “2019 is going to be kefir, it’s
reduce their use of single-use plastic, and look for reusable, eco-friendly alternatives, which is predicted to carry on into 2019. Examples of how we saw great sales in line with this trend include the Huskup Reusable Eco Cup, which saw an 80% rise in sales.” Lakeland seasonal, store & organise buyer
Lyndsey Baker noted: “We’re all becoming more aware of the damaging environmental impact of single-use plastic products, and that includes the millions of disposable coffee cups that end up in landfill all over the world. Huskup decided to do something about it and make their daily coffee a bit more planet-friendly.” Samm continued: “At Lakeland, we’re committed to finding a credible alternative to disposable plastic products as soon as possible. We won’t be buying any more plastic straws or plastic disposable cutlery. “We will offer great alternatives so that the
customer can make the choice, and the customer is already clearly demonstrating their preference. We have some great products that will help reduce the plastic in our lives, particularly the disposable. Tackling the easy
Buyer’s eye
Hobbycraſt head of buying Heather Robbins talks trends for the upcoming season – and gets ready for Easter baking
What’s your background? I have been at Hobbycraft for almost 15 years. I did a fashion illustration and marketing degree and then joined Hobbycraft as a buying assistant. I’ve worked my way up to head of buying and in my time have bought almost all of our categories.
Tell us a bit about Hobbycraft. Founded in 1995, Hobbycraft is the UK’s largest arts and crafts retailer with over 90 stores across the UK. [It sells more than 35,000 arts and crafts products for hundreds of creative activities, from baking, home craft, art, jewellery making, knitting, sewing, kids’ crafts and model making, to accessories for weddings, celebrations and more.]
How would you describe your range? Our housewares range primarily focuses on home baking and our key brands are Wilton, Dr Oetker and Renshaw. We sell a large range of cake decorating items, from icing nozzles to different shaped cake tins, and also have a large range of jars and ranges for preserve making.
In addition, we have an extensive range of products for making personalised items for your home, from frames to ceramics, including chalk paints and stencils.
What are your best sellers? Icing and cake boards are our current best sellers, ahead of launching our new ranges ready for Easter baking. Our customers also enjoying making candles for their homes as they can make bespoke scents and match the colour to their interior colour scheme.
What’s hot and what’s not? Customers are loving brightly coloured products at the moment, whether it be food colourings, icings or cake toppers and sprinkles. We’ve seen a downturn recently in candy making sales.
How do you find new products? We visit consumer shows, trade shows and vendors, as well as listening to customer groups and surveys. Sometimes we’re also lucky enough to have great suppliers approach us directly.
What’s your selection criteria? Our criteria is led by putting our customers first. We want to bring them great quality and innovative products at great value prices.
What are you most excited about for the next season? We’ve seen phenomenal growth in candle making and we’re increasing our range. This will also include soap making.
Most rewarding aspect of your job? Seeing how much our customers love our products, especially when they share their images on social media.
Most challenging aspect of your job? Ensuring that we can get the new products to our customers quickly.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in housewares buying? Get as much experience as you can and ensure you stay up to speed with what’s happening in the wider retail market.
wins first can make an enormous difference. “As part of a drive to reduce retail and mail
order packaging as much as possible, we are reviewing all packaging with our suppliers. One of many recent conversations with a kitchen tools supplier will result in 130,000 less poly bags arriving in our warehouse this year alone. Going forward, we will continue to identify these opportunities and to revise packaging on future orders.” Lakeland has also signed up to WRAP’s
(Waste and Resources Action Programme) The UK Plastics Pact; “a trailblazing, collaborative initiative that will deliver a step change and stimulate innovation, supported by the UK government, with ambitious targets to deliver by 2025. “Of course, Lakeland has been
environmentally conscious for a number of years,” Samm pointed out. “Prior to the introduction of the 5p carrier bag charge, we donated 1p to the Woodland Trust every time a customer declined a carrier bag. Since the introduction of the charge, we’ve increased the donation. This now adds up to a donation of around £20,000 per year.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
