Monday February 5 2018 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM


talkingtrade A theatre of dreams


David Grunwerg, director of supplier Grunwerg, discusses the challenge of recreating ‘a theatre of dreams’ for housewares Hopefully, progressive bricks-and-mortar


democracies, we all want rather more than that. To help us along our way, we’re subjected


to advertising, visual displays, and all kinds of marketing and promotional influences in order for us to spend and consume more. Which, of course, also expands the market for these items. Our own housewares industry is as


dependent on this phenomenon as any. Fashion, new trends and innovations play a large part in stimulating interest and expenditure on many of our products. We would not have developed the ‘need’ for


products like the flavour shaker, lattice cutter, milk frother, omelette pan or spiralizer were it not for the marketing and theatre which


“We, as suppliers, must intensify our pursuit


I


’ve just returned from spending Easter and Passover at our holiday home abroad.


One of the features of this break is doing


the ‘big shop’ at our local supermarket, to replenish our supplies of food and drink for family and friends. This is inevitably followed by the ‘big


argument’ with Mrs G, when I return home with a car-full of merchandise that bears only scant relation to the list which she painstakingly put together for me. My intention here is not to dwell on the


resilience of my marriage but to point out that in the process of manoeuvring my supermarket trolley up and down the aisles, I’ve allowed myself to be tempted into adding all sorts of interesting extras to the basic requirements on the list. Most of these extras will be consumed and


hopefully enjoyed. But when initially drawing up the list from the comfort of our lounge, they were not deemed necessary. What we end up buying is a combination of


the necessities of life, and a whole host of other items which satisfy our curiosity, our desire to try something new or different, to be trendy and follow the latest fashion, or to just simply show off or be greedy. Classical Marxism proposes that ‘each [of


us should get] according to our needs’. But of course, in our relatively wealthy liberal


of new concepts, designs and ideas to keep introducing fresh


opportunities to the public”


promoted their existence and virtues. Most of this activity was based around


exposure on TV cookery programmes and in- store displays and demonstrations. Creating such ‘theatre’ in our shops was always going to be a powerful driver of interest and sales, and many retailers still partake in this. But as our bricks-and-mortar shops continue


to disappear, and as larger chains rationalise their operations and cut back on staffing and fixtures and fittings in an effort to compete with lower-cost operations, opportunities to create additional and unplanned expenditure will decline alongside them. It does concern me that our industry is likely


to shrink as a result, and consumers will choose to spend more and more of their disposable income elsewhere. My mind goes back to an early presentation


by one of our industry leaders several years ago, when he pronounced that he saw competition to his shops coming not just from other housewares retailers but from travel agents, coffee shops and DIY stores, who were all competing for that disposable income.


retailers will continue to do what they can to set themselves apart from others and attract and entertain the public, to encourage them to spend their money. And, in particular, to close those sales. We, as suppliers, must intensify our pursuit of


new concepts, designs and ideas to keep introducing fresh opportunities to the public. With less access to the media and less of a


physical presence on the High Street, we will need to invest heavily in social media, and alternative ways of bringing these innovations to the attention of our audiences, and helping to generate the appetite to seek further information. Finally, we will need to pressurise our online


retailers to focus more on our products’ capabilities and features, and less on price savings and discounts; on ranges and options, rather than just the best sellers; and on somehow recreating online the theatrical effects of in-store displays and demonstrations, so that even browsing data at home becomes a pleasurable and motivating experience. So, the challenge is there, for all of us –


brand owners, manufacturers, importers and retailers alike (whether bricks-and-mortar or online) – to recreate ‘a theatre of dreams’ for our housewares products, to maintain the public’s interest in our products and share of their spending. In the meantime, I’m off to my travel agent


to book my next trip to our holiday home, and to see what further surprises lie in wait for me on those supermarket shelves!


• Headquartered in Sheffield, Grunwerg is an award-winning supplier of housewares and catering products, with more than 70 years’ experience in the kitchenware industry


May 2017


• HousewaresLive.net


• twitter.com/Housewaresnews


housewareslive.net | 19


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