INDEPENDENT FOCUS: RETAILING
fun selling wine. Making funny signs about wine and beer – ‘Bulgarian wine: better than a poke in the leg with a sharp umbrella!’,
the Bulgarian embassy in London wasn’t too impressed with that one,” says Mac.
“Wit is educated insolence” “[The customers] probably think we’re a bit odd, that our sense of humour is not normal for shopkeepers
really. 80% of the
customers will think we’re fabulous because of the range of products because it’s such a tiny space and we do cram a lot in it, our tag line is: ‘If we don’t have it, you don’t need it!’ which is often put to the test. “I also think we’re an important part of the community – a community that’s changed massively over the years. “We’re struggling against the local council about retail units being turned into coffee shops, charity shops and restaurants, and there are very few businesses up here that supplies things that you actually need on a day-to-day basis.” Mac and Simon use their shop windows to create interest, running a permanent display of very old, antique goods that were found in old hardware stores.
“The shop window is incredibly
hard to access, the original owner built the shelves right up close to the glass so there’s about a six inch gap,
although
so you can’t physically get in there without moving all the stock from the shelves,” Mac chuckles. “So, I decided a while back that most of the window display would be taken up by dusty old antiques from the hardware trade, because you didn’t have to clean them and they looked authentic and they could stay there for years without any interference. There’s a 1953 coronation apron, lots of goods from the 40s, 50s, 60s, old tins, tools and it’s a very lazy way of making a display but it looks like a museum!” “The third member of staff at Clifton Hardware is part-time but brings in expert knowledge of the antiques that Mac adores having on display: “He’s worked for us for a long time, he’s an old duffer as well, and he turns up with carpet from 1920 that we chuck into the window.”
The smaller shop window, which
Mac and Simon have easier access to tends to be used for advertising seasonal goods, such as gardening and Christmas, however they have since caused quite a stir with their latest addition to these products. “Donald
Trump was being
compared to a slug quite often, so I put his head on a slug killer, and Kim John Un was warmongering so I put him on the Pest Smoke and Theresa May on the Lion’s Roar, which is a cat deterrent – and it all seemed
www.diyweek.net
23 MARCH 2018 DIY WEEK 21
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