CLEANING & LAUNDRY


Merlin Mica Hardware 31a, Market Hill, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 9JS


With thanks to Jenny Robinson


1 HG Liquid Drain Unblocker, £4.25 It’s a product that works. Staff sell the product not only as an unblocker but a product to keep the drains clear too.


2 HG Mould Spray, £6.99 It’s the only mould spray that removes and prevents it from coming back.


3 Kilrock, £2.75


The shop is located in a hard-water area and this has been around for years, it works very quickly and effectively.


Islands Home Hardware Garrison Lane, St Marys, Isles of Scilly, TR21 0NJ


With thanks to Fiona Robson


1 110 wash soap powders, from £19.99 2 5-litre laundry liquid, from £19.99 3 5-litre fabric conditioner, from £7.99


4 100 dishwasher tablets, from £31.99 We stock the above items, as our local Co-op is a convenience store, so therefore does not stock any large boxes/bottles in the cleaning range. This saves our customers having to order online from the mainland, they can come in and buy what they need straight away. We do not charge them for freight on the boat or for delivery to their door. It’s a win, win situation.


HOPING FOR A


he world of DIY retail is still a fairly new one for Blundells Home Hardware


Nick Thompson, who


bought


owner the


Longton Preston branch in 2015. But, with a background in garden centre retail, Mr Thompson has hit the floor running and is particularly keen to maximise sales in his cleaning and laundry department. “We’re busy all the time,” he tells DIY Week, “So it’s tough to get a lot done in one section in between customers, but cleaning and laundry is an area with huge potential and opportunity.”


“As a category, the margins are fairly small – around the same as paint – but in my opinion, it is just as important a category as paint. There is a huge demand for these products, which is why we are currently building up the category and giving it a bigger prominence in the store.”


stores


The store’s cleaning and laundry department is currently a ‘work in progress’


www.diyweek.net


Big competition With supermarkets becoming an increasingly-popular port of call for cleaning and laundry products, how can smaller hardware stores compete? For Blundells, it’s a case of seeing what sells well and marketing it as best they can. “Our best-selling cleaning product by far is Algon Patio and Decking Cleaner, which straddles two categories, as it’s a garden product as well. It’s been selling extremely well, and we price it at £5. It’s not widely available in supermarkets but, by applying a lower price point than garden centres and other outlets, we are working on a slim margin but its driving footfall tremendously, with over 250 units sold in March alone.” How does Blundells draw in customers who might not know to look to their local hardware stores for their cleaning and laundry needs, however? “Well, traditionally hardware


CLEAN SWEEP OF SALES T


DIY Week is always on the look out for retailers who are doing something differently with a particular category or sales strategy – Blundells Home Hardware in Preston has recognised the selling potential in the cleaning and laundry category and is currently re-vamping the entire section on the shopfloor.


always explains have


been known to sell cleaning items such as mops, buckets, etc,”


Mr


Thompson. “There is a decent awareness that we would sell this sort of thing, but it’s always important to draw attention to the products we sell. At the moment we have a large chalkboard outside the shop telling people about the Algon product.”


Blundells Home Hardware is keen to unlock the potential of its cleaning and laundry department


Merchandising opportunities “I don’t find merchandising the cleaning and laundry products too much of a challenge,” says Mr Thompson. “It’s just about keeping all the items together where


it makes sense, so the


irons with the ironing boards and the rest of the laundry items. The dishwasher products all go together – you have to make it easy to navigate and work with the space you have.


“It’s not a challenge to


merchandise but it is a challenge finding the time to dedicate to doing it!”


Blundells’ former cleaning department, currently undergoing a revamp to make the most of its sales potential


14 APRIL 2017 DIY WEEK 9


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