RANGE REVIEW: HARDWARE & TOOLS


SUPPORTING THE HIGH STREET IN TURBULENT TIMES


Founded in 1975 in Enfield By Brothers Alan and Trevor Shipton, EFG Housewares is one of Britain’s largest independent wholesale businesses serving the housewares and DIY market. With over 70,000 SKUs in stock at any one time and a fulfilment rate of over 90 per cent, the business aims to provide an unmatched selection and service to retailers.


A


s we’ve seen for most businesses, the current uncertainty in the UK market made EFG take a look at its business


model and decide that it needed to invest when other companies were cutting. It wants to be able to bring the ‘EFG difference’ to a wider national high street audience and to support the shop owners with a great new service.


The company decided to venture


more into delivered wholesale to work alongside its busy Enfield- based cash and carry which caters for DIY,


kitchen, home, giftware, toys, toiletries, cleaning, pets, stationery, seasonal and others. This part of the business is headed up by Mike Smith who has worked in both the housewares and DIY markets for over 20 years. Together with his team of sales managers and agents, Mike Smith believes EFG it is best placed to assist the high street in these turbulent times.


Ambitious strategy EFG understands how hard it is to get a foothold in this competitive market, but that’s exactly what it has been able to manage with its low carriage paid values and flexible delivery partners it can bring both speed and selection to the market place and there are now many stores experiencing what it can offer. However, the company of course wanted more, so it embarked on an ambitious strategy of investment in some of the best known DIY brands at market leading prices, and with the Help of Alan Shipton who still heads up the DIY buying department, the company has added over 3,000 new DIY products from the likes of Akzo Nobel,


14 DIY WEEK 08 NOVEMBER 2019


Ronseal, Amtec, Draper, Harris and Everbuild, amongst others. EFG is now an ideal partner for the DIY, ironmonger or hardware store, and if it doesn’t have a particular product, it can always get it as it receives weekly deliveries from the company’s key suppliers.


EFG also decided to update some


of the brands which it carries and now offers a ‘good, better, best’ strategy, whilst remaining true to its core belief of offering great value.


Own brand products As the company has grown, it has, like many businesses, had to be mindful of managing cash flow, as it wants to ensure it has the right stock on the shelves at the right time


and that’s always a challenge, but the owners of the business always stated that ‘if we don’t have it we can’t supply it’.


This comes sharply into focus as


EFG develops a number of our own brands that take capital to develop. It has only recently launched it Bright and Homely range (which covers fans, heaters and Christmas lights)


and Green Habitats that


offers the consumer/store a value proposition in the garden arena (selling everything from BBQs to hoses), recently featured by Instagram influencer, Mrs Hinch. A number of years ago there was a huge boom in the cook shop market which in the recent past has slowed dramatically, but that gives the


DIY/hardware store store a huge opportunity to increase the product selection with the addition of key cook shop lines and again at EFG its kitchen department is stocked with the brands you would expect to see in a quality store, such as Pyrex, Typhoon, Apollo, Kitchen Craft and Kilner to name just a few. EFG also knows just how important having the right products in the seasonal arena are, and with a huge garden and Christmas department, it can be the destination and a partner to maximise your seasonal offerings.


Retail partner As we move out of a very turbulent 2019 into 2020 with a hope of political resolution on the landscape, EFG is well placed to partner with DIY and hardware stores up and down the land who have felt potentially neglected, or taken for granted by their current suppliers. It will always supply retail ready product from a new updated website, first time every time, and as a business that continues to evolve as it takes and pointers and suggestions from its customers to improve its service. EFG has have also recently very much taken up the green mantle and with a huge new ECO- Range, it again believes it’s best placed to assist retailers to be that destination for this massive growth area. The company is aware of its environmental responsibilities and looks forward to adding far more shelf space to it.


To find out more about EFG Houswares and learn about the products and services it can offer retailers, visit: www.efghousewares.co.uk


www.diyweek.net


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36