RETAILER SPOTLIGHT
October/November 2024
housewareslive.net
much these days and that they like to come to us for that reason.
Q: How do you attract new customers? MW: One of the main ways we actively try to attract new customers and remind local people that we are here is via social media, especially our Instagram and Facebook pages which we regularly post on with new seasonal stock as well as our everyday lines. We’re currently running a weekly segment on our Instagram called ‘What We Stock Wednesday!’ where each week we show off a different area of the shop. Some of the other ways we attract customers include our window
displays which we change every couple of months to display different or new stock, and where we are fortunate enough to be right on the high street. Many people walk and drive past it everyday. We are also fortunate that many of our loyal customers will often bring friends of theirs into the shop if they are visiting the area, which helps to spread our presence by word of mouth.
Emma Bridgewater and JellyCat which have quite big followings and bring in a variety of customers of all age ranges. Another huge seller of ours in Wrendale Designs which we stock both
their Portmeirion china range and their gift lines, the reason for these being such good sellers is probably the reasonable prices combined with the cute watercolour designs which are very popular particularly the woodland and farm animals which given our countryside location our customers tend to lean towards.
Q: Who are your main competitors? And how do you ensure customers choose you instead of rivals? MW: We are lucky enough that we don’t have much direct competition department stores, some garden centres and also online retailers. We ensure people choose us by offering a more personal and unique
We are very hands on with our customers and try to ensure they receive what they want then and there we will offer to order it in specially for them if we can, as well as being able to post small items to people or locally delivering larger items in our van. People regularly comment about how you don’t get service like ours
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Q: What are the future plans for the shop? MW aim for the shop is always to keep a wide range of products which cater year we have had a huge increase in the number of customers buying provide a much larger range for people to choose from.
Q: What are the main problems of running the business in the industry today? MW: One of the biggest problems we face is competing with online stores because they are able to have more of a variety of stock which they often buy in bulk meaning they can offer a cheaper price, which as an independent business we sometimes struggle with. Fortunately we are located in an area where the demographic tends to
prefer to buy from a physical shop rather than ordering online. Another problem we face is the reliability of supply chains, lucky in
recent months we haven’t had an issue with this, but in the past few years there have been a few times when orders we’ve placed have taken in 2021 when the Suez Canal was blocked.
Q: Is there anything else you’d wish to add? MW: Generally we are incredibly grateful that we are still here and have as many lovely customers supporting us as we do. Not a day goes past when we don’t get compliments on how lovely our shop is and how there aren’t many shops like it around anymore.
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