comment comment LAURENCEWHITEBusiness Owner of TREACLE GEORGE at Tetbury in Gloucestershire On The Floor


on a proposal! I’mseeing it fromthe other side now, so I have a lotmore sympathy for retailers and their day-to-day schedules.


Wis and


How would you describe your product range? We try to be a little design store, s o we span contemporary furniture, lighting, accessories gifts. Essentially,


y, right the way from hbone Chairs to ChilliMills!


Howmany suppliers do you deal with? roximately 30 in total. Key housewares pliers include DavidMellor,


What’s’s your career background?


I’ma poacher turned gamekeeper, having spent 25-plus years on the rep/agent side of the fence (th le ast 17 years representing Stelton in the UK) and now jumping over to the shopkeeper side.


Except I didn’tmake it all the way, so we straddle both sides; in addition to the shop, we are also very proud to represent a couple of brands for the UKmarket:Muurla fromFinland and Kahla Porcelain fromGermany.


Why did you decide to open a shop?


It had been in the back ofmymind for a few years but then it just kin d of happened I had planned to open a trade showroombut I drove through Tetbury in Gloucestershire in Autumn 2017 and saw a 'high street’ premises that I liked - and TREACLE GEORGE got promoted fromthe back ofmymind to the front, very quickly!


. Tell us a bit about TREACLE GEORGE.


We opened in July 2018 and we occupy a 350- year-old building by the lovelyMarket House in downtown Tetbury [at 2 1Market Place] Our store is two floors with about 150sqmof retail, storage and office space.


.


TREACLE GEORGE is the nickname ofmy youngest son and is also, as we subsequently found out, the name of an old English pudding last written about in 1914.


How did youmark TREACLE GEORGE’s’s first anniversary?


With a good bottle of Vino Rosso! In all honesty, it’s been such a whirlwi nd that I don’t think we’ve really had time to sit back and reflect on our first year.


Running a shop is blinking hard work but also fantastic fun. I now know why buyers in the past didn’t reply tomy e mails or get back tome


16 | housewaresl livive.net • HousewaresLive.net HousewaresLive.net twitter • twitter.com/Housewaresnewsresnews r.com/Houseware /H September/October 2019


and Ros sup App


r, Kinto,Mepal,


ti, Zone, Kahla Porcelain,Muurla, Bialetti Ad Hoc .


“Running a “Running a


shop is blinking hard work but also fantastic fun


How do you find products? .


y,


shop is blinking har work but also fantastic fun”


Amixture of rep visits, trade press and trade shows I look to keep up with the latest stuff going on and visit Ambiente in Germany, Maison & Objet in Paris and Top Drawer in London each year. That said, we are not really bothered by trends toomuch and only stock products that we love and that will stand the test of time.


Howmany direct competitors are in your


Tetbury itself h There are no di area?


as a good few interiors store s rect competitors close to us.


now and is well-known for its antique dealers. It’s a great day out. Come on down!


Who is your typical customer?


In the shop, I think our typical customer is perhaps 45-plus and predominantly female. Often, they are visiting the area so wemake sure that everyone takes one of ourmini brochures away with themto hopefully come back to us online.We have plenty of locals too and customers fromBristol Bath an d


,


Cheltenhamcoming in to see the furniture and lighting in particular.


Online, I get the sense that our typical


customer ismore 30-plus but it’s very hard to pinpoint.


Overall, we are very happy with themix of What’s’s on your counter?


We sell Lakrids Danish liquorice extremely well and samples of that are on the counter - and in my belly, if I stand next to themfor too long!


What are your top five housewares best sellers?


Kinto travel tumblers (£31.95 to £34.95), Zone silicone trivets (£6.95 to £14.95),Mepal Cirqul a bowls (£5.95 to £16.95),MuurlaMoomin enamelware (£7.95 to £14.95) and Zon e bathroomware (£14.95 to £69.95).


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