Monday February 5 2018 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM
talkingshop
‘We should never sit still’ M
arch 2016 saw the grand opening of Barkers Home: a rebrand of Barkers Furnishing Store and a
celebration of £3.5 million worth of extension and refurbishment work. Since 1994, the North Yorkshire retailer
Barkers has stocked furniture, lighting and soft furnishings from the purpose-built premises on the edge of the market town of Northallerton. But last year, the 40,000sq ft two-storey shop
was expanded to 60,000sq ft and renamed Barkers Home. The extra 20,000sq ft created
space on the ground floor for a wide selection of contemporary furniture while upstairs, the linen department was extended and a cookshop entitled Cook, Wine & Dine was introduced, along with a gifts section. The new-look Barkers Home was designed
by SP&A Architects and won the best small commercial building category of the North and East Yorkshire Building Excellence Awards last June. Barkers managing director Charles Barker
commented: “We visited many stores in the UK and travelled to New York looking for ideas to give Barkers Home a different and inspirational look. “We wanted to create a spacious, slightly
quirky environment that would make it both relaxing and fun to browse, choose home furnishings and also be a great place to work. “We’re so pleased that it’s been such a hit
with customers and staff alike - and to win this highly acclaimed award makes it all the more special.” Barkers also comprises a 40,000sq ft
department store (which has been a familiar
Buyer’s eye T
he Cook, Wine & Dine department at Barkers Home measures 3,676sq
ſt and is staffed by three full timers, as well as homewares buyer Julie Poynton (who has worked for Barkers for 27 years) and a department manager who oversees all the homewares departments. The main brands stocked are
Brabantia, Stellar and Judge from Horwood, Umbra, Churchill, LSA, Creative Tops, Emma Bridgewater, Cath Kidston, Repeat Repeat, Leonardo, Orla Kiely, Portmeirion, Denby, Keith Brymer Jones, Zwilling J.A. Henckels, Staub, Cole & Mason, Jamie Oliver, La Cafetiere, Le Creuset, Ken Hom, Mason Cash, Typhoon, Kilner, Moorland Pottery, Scion, Ted Baker, Zeal, Black & Blum, Dartington Crystal, Arthur Price and Hannah Turner. “But,”Julie says, “we’re always looking for the next fresh range”. She
FINALIST BEST
INDEPENDENT DEPARTMENT STORE AWARD
Housewares Magazine catches up with Barkers Home Store, a finalist in the Britain’s Best Independent Department Store category of The Housewares Innovation Awards 2017
face on Northallerton High Street since 1882, and includes a well-established cook shop department), and a 20,000sq ft distribution centre. In total over 270 people are employed by the company, which is privately owned. Charles said: “We are a family business which
has been part of Northallerton for a long time, and we plan to be around for many years into the future. “We should never sit still. It’s important to
have a policy of constant improvement to what we do, offering the best shopping experience that we can with exciting new products, good customer service, and some retail theatre.”
attends trade shows Top Drawer, Spring and Autumn Fair, Home & Gift and Exclusively Housewares every season to scout for new stock. Success stories since opening include CKS’ Zeal brightly coloured
Barkers Home homewares buyer Julie Poynton talks trends
kitchen utensils. Country Pursuits mugs from Churchill, Umbra, the Scion Mr Fox range and LSA glassware. The cook shop holds occasional demonstrations and is planning to
expand its demo programme. Examples include interactive knife skill and cooking sessions by Zwilling J.A. Henckels which, Julie says, “are always well received. But our claim to fame is a cookery demonstration from Ken Hom who drew large crowds on the day - as well as seated tickets for the event selling out in just a week. Customers are now asking ‘who are you getting in next?’ No pressure then!” Barkers Home welcomed the world famous chef last October, who
created three dishes using his range of woks and other cooking accessories in front of an audience of more than 150 customers. Tasting samples were then passed around the crowd - and the department had a record breaking day on wok sales. Julie says Barkers Home is now looking to develop a gift list service.
The company also recently appointed a marketing manager, who is keen to promote the business via social media and other avenues; “so this will be an area of growth for us”. When it comes to direct competition, Julie says: “We have a Steamer
Trading and a Lakeland in our high street, as well as a number of small cook shop departments within businesses in and around Northallerton – including our own very successful department store. “Hopefully our customer service is what brings shoppers through our
door - along with the chance to see something a bit different, that’s not available in the multiples.” .
May 2017
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