AN INDEPENDENT REMEMBERS
“Most independents didn’t offer this level of service”
New ad campaigns, creative colours in the bathroom, and a new level of service; all as our independent hardwareman takes a step back in time with part 35 of his stories from the shopfloor
short of pre-historic. To me it’s like it was only five years ago (and yes, I do remember what I had for breakfast yesterday morning; just don’t ask me about today’s). We had been blessed with a fourth TV channel the previous November, when now of course we have well over 100 channels to choose from. This meant more adverts to spread the word about what we were selling. Good news for retailers; not so good for viewers who were forced to sit through all those commercials.
M Grounded
This was the year when the Black & Decker power planer came out. The advertising campaign would have us believe that B&D had invented it, when in reality such a piece of kit had been available to tradesmen, if rather more expensively. We were encouraged to stock heavily and place orders in advance, which I did. I seem to remember that the first wave of adverts was broadcast one evening, yet none of the product had been delivered to us. The next day we received our full compliment, according to the quota imposed by the wholesaler: just 1 x DN720 planer arrived. We were busy with customers that morning, so I didn’t get it in the window, leaving it on a
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ay 1983 and things were changing. To some it will seem like ancient history; to others it’ll be nothing
stool behind the counter. Then an air hostess came in (we
were allowed to use that term back then). There wasn’t an airport within 30 miles, which was a bit strange, but she’d ravaged the area’s Yellow Pages, found us and dropped in on the off chance. We didn’t often get people like her in our shop, and my instincts told me she was rather special (and no, I did not have a fetish for uniforms,
- not
yet, anyway). She pointed to the planer and told me she would take it, flashed her credit card and the deal was done. I thought it was strange that an air hostess had to travel so far to get a plane. The adverts kicked in, word got
around that we had the planers and I’ve never disappointed so many people (not least my boss) until a few years later when a similar thing happened with Mickey Mouse telephones. By the time another two or three turned up, the adverts had ended and, through no fault of ours, we had missed the plane – I mean the boat. Something rather drastic had to change regarding supply.
Colour squilches These were the days of coloured bathroom suites – yes, I know what you’re thinking: either “What? When
was that?” or “Ugh! Yeah, I’ve been trying to forget!” We thought they were okay back then (except me, that is, though for some reason we chose a light pink for our first house). But there were people who had sepia coloured suites, which was a dark brown – I mean, can you imagine such a thing in a bathroom? And, wth 12 colours in the Evo-Stik range including pampas (light green), avocado (dark green), harvest gold, pompadour, Kashmir Beige and sun king, we were kept busy, thanks to Evo-Stik cornering a market that was led by the bathroom suite manufacturers, so it wasn’t their fault. But it was annoying when customers didn’t know which colour of bath they had and returned part- eaten tubes saying, “I’ve only used a tiny bit but it’s the wrong colour,” and expecting us to put them back on sale. Maybe small tester squilches (new word) should have been available. By the way, the TV advert can be found on YouTube.
No tool like an old tool The Black & Decker spare parts cabinet (that I still have, by the way) gave the shop some kind of kudos - a bit like a car dealer acquiring main dealer status - and people began flocking to us for repairs and new
The Black & Decker spare parts cabinet gave the shop some kind of kudos
tools. I charged £1 inspection fee, allowable against the labour charge should we get the job. Then people began bringing stuff in that needed fixing under guarantee, so if bought from us I would take care of it free of charge, and if bought elsewhere, usually the sheds, I offered to transport these items to B&D for £1 (I was saving customers travel costs and postage). I lost count of the number of people who apologised for not having shopped with us in the first place. So, once a week I carted all of this stuff to the service centre, which posted it back out to the owners free of charge. This was Black & Decker at its best and those days, almost 40 years on, are sadly long past. Most independents didn’t – and none of the sheds could – offer this level of service, and word quickly got around about our abilities. I learnt fast, often receiving guidance from the blokes at the Black & Decker service centre, with who I formed a great working relationship. I performed the repairs that many people wouldn’t have paid B&D for, mainly because these were ancient tools in which owners wouldn’t want to invest too much, but using genuine spares I brought them back to life to last for another few years.
14 JUNE 2019 DIY WEEK 21
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