award winners special


Monday February 4 2019 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM


Potters Cookshop raises the bar


What’s the key to successful window displays and in-store demos? Tom Carter, director of Potters Cookshop, shares his thoughts


Potters Cookshop of Hockley in Essex scooped two gongs in The Housewares Innovation Awards 2018 for its window displays and in-store demos. An extension of the long-established independent hardware business Inifer Potter & Son, Potters Cookshop opened in September 2012. It expanded eight months later in May 2013 - and grew again last April. The store celebrated the latter with a week of


events, starting off with an in-store demo from TV chef and School of Wok founder Jeremy Pang and finishing with a visit from Candice Brown, 2016 winner of TV series ‘The Great British Bake Off’.


Potters Cookshop director Tom Carter says: “We made every day of the week special for our customers. Whether there was a demonstration, an offer or free goodies, they had something to look forward to. Without our customers, the shop wouldn’t be here. So it was nice to give back to the community. We introduced in-store demos from the


start. I knew when we were building the original cookshop that I wanted a demo kitchen area, as this would allow us to show off products to their best. We now have a very large open plan kitchen


kitted out with everything you need: an oven, induction hob, sink and a dishwasher. To be honest, it’s better than my kitchen at home! Our visual merchandiser and sales assistant Alison Hobbs was the first person to do a demo for us (for Halloween cupcakes) and has conducted most of them since. We run demos at least every month because there’s always a product to show the customers or a recipe to teach. Social media is by far the best way to


promote them. It’s free and the reach - particularly on Facebook - can be huge. We also send email newsletters and advertise demos in-store. With a celebrity


involved, the news usually travels fast: as we are finding out with Raymond Blanc [who will be demonstrating his culinary skills using the Kenwood Chef Titanium on May 30]. We need the help from the suppliers to


Ken Hom at Potters Cookshop


Winning windows We have 15 windows measuring about 20 metres in total, and we try to change what’s in them every month. This can be quite a task - not only because of


the work involved but also coming up with fresh ideas. The windows are south-facing so that can make it a bit tricky too, keeping on top of products fading in the sun. Certain times of the year are easier, especially when we have a lot of new stock in. I’m lucky to have Alison, who dresses the windows (she trained at college and joined us over four years ago). If we have a big display, it can certainly be a team effort - but the theme will be her idea.


attract people to the shop and thankfully they’ve been great. Dexam very kindly helped with Jeremy Pang [who collaborated with the housewares supplier to create the School of Wok collection] but Candice was organised by me. Ken Hom has also demonstrated his DKB range.


Our most successful demo to date? That’s a


hard one to answer as I have favourites and I have ones that have taken a lot of money! But I will say that we’ve just hosted chef


Malcolm Harradine [who demonstrated Stellar products from Horwood] and he was brilliant: so informative and a pleasure to have in the shop. For me, the benefits of holding a demo are


two-fold: firstly, it boosts the takings but mainly, a demo creates theatre for the customer. And if it inspires one person, then we’ve done our job.


Chef Malcom Harradine with Alison Hobbs


For the Christmas window, she starts planning in January and sources display materials in the months that follow. We always spend a bit more on props for Christmas but Alison tries to make as many as she can to keep costs down. Quite often her poor husband, who is a carpenter, has to create something in his shed on a Sunday for her. And what she can do with tissue paper is rather amazing! Our most ambitious project to date? Well, we


recently put a Vespa scooter in the window. We were doing an Italian coffee shop theme with the help of [Italian appliance brand] De’Longhi. In the summer, we’re having a Tiki window, complete with a bar, cacti, flamingos and lots of pineapples. And for Christmas, plans are huge. All I can say at this stage is that we’re trying to get hold of a lion! In my opinion, the secret to a successful


The Italian coffee shop themed window


window is one that engages with the public. When a customer comes in and praises the display, or messages us on social media, we’ve done something right.”


30 | housewareslive.net • HousewaresLive.net • twitter.com/Housewaresnews June 2018


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