RETAILER SPOTLIGHT
June/July 2025
housewareslive.net It’s also the camaraderie of everyone who works here. We celebrate all
our birthdays together because they fall around the same time. Being here doesn’t feel like work because I enjoy it so much. That’s the thing about this industry—the bond I’ve built with everyone over the years is just incredible.
Q: Are you members of any associations? And if so, why? SW: We are Bira members. We’re also still members of the Cook@ Group, which has kind of faded a bit. It’s a buying group of 22 independent cookshops, but many of those shops have now closed.
advice is not to challenge thieves and just let them go, but then they tell their friends, and suddenly you’ve got a regular problem. We even have “regular shoplifters,” which really leaves me speechless. at handling these incidents—no one argues with her! It’s driven by the cost-of-living crisis, and to be brutally honest, a lot of it is just feeding a bad habit.
Another challenge is that the store is in a very old building. Winters seem
to get colder every year—probably because we’re all getting older —and Competing against the internet is huge. For example, a customer might see something they like and ask if we have it in their size. If we don’t, we can order it, but it takes around 10 days. The customer knows they can order it online and have it the next day, so that’s tough. But there are plenty of highs too. We’ve won several awards, including Best Cookshop and the Buying Award twice at the Housewares Magazine Awards, which meant a lot. We also won an award in Chicago this year [2025] at the GIA Awards.
Q: Who are your main competitors? And how do you ensure your customers choose you instead of your rivals? SW: One of the biggest competitors is actually the suppliers themselves. They can create a D2C (direct-to-consumer) website much faster than a B2B one, and I can understand why they’re doing it. But the least they could do is offer us the same deals they give consumers. It makes it almost impossible to compete when they instantly launch a 20% off sale for customers. Of course, there are a number of suppliers who are very honourable and respect our business. Paul Shelley at Haus is great because he also owns his own shop, Simmer and Slice in Staffordshire, so he really understands. Another challenge is the number of returns we have to manage. I read somewhere it’s a statistical fact that consumers are more likely to return an item to an independent shop than to a department store. That’s because they assume we’ll accept returns, which we do, but they think department stores won’t. Sadly, that’s just the way of the world.
We make sure everyone who works here has tried every product we stock, so they have real-world experience of using them. It also helps us know that the product is worth stocking because it’s high quality. Amazon isn’t really a competitor in my eyes because we focus on high-
quality products, which they don’t. We also have TK Maxx in Tunbridge Wells, HomeSense, and a department store called Hoopers just a couple of minutes’ walk from us.
Another high for me is just being my own boss. The freedom it’s given me
is incredible. I could see my family more, attend the children’s school plays when they were younger, and spend quality time with my husband—things we simply couldn’t have done in previous jobs. I’ve realised I just couldn’t work for anyone else—I’d probably get sacked;
my timekeeping is terrible! But running the shop has given us a better quality of life, even if the money isn’t quite the same. You just can’t put a price on spending time with family.
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After 50 years, Trevor Mottram remains a staple in Tunbridge Wells, blending tradition with a clear understanding of what today’s home cooks want. Sarah Wood’s hands-on approach and passion for quality keep the shop relevant, despite the challenges of modern retail. It’s a reminder that independent shops still have an important place, offering something you just can’t get online.
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