September 2022 ertonline.co.uk


Q&A


Q: What made you move into selling home appliances? Graeme Redford: In the early 2000s the TV rental side of the business had really quietened down and we started speaking to some appliances brands about selling them and it took off quite quickly. We continued with brown goods because of the history of the business and now thankfully there has been a bit of a resurgence and it’s a strong part of our business again. Ailsa Redford: I think for so many years TVs were just plug and play products, but now there is more setting up and fitting required, especially with smart TVs, so we have become a bit more specialised again. We offer a traditional family service – not just


delivery, but for any follow-up queries we are always at the end of the phone or can revisit if necessary. Even if it’s adjusting the hinges on a built-in washing machine, we’ll do everything. Hosies is built on quality service and that’s what makes us unique.


The St Andrews store


Q: How important is it for you to engage with your customer base and be that go-to local electrical retailer? AR: Having a nice welcoming store always helps. We often get people commenting on our attractive displays and we like to offer our customers a hot drink as an extra friendly touch! We are very fortunate that in both Broughty Ferry and St Andrews we have good vibrant high streets with lots of independent stores attracting a nice mix of customers; in contrast, some towns are just left with boarded up shops and it’s very sad. I feel it’s a lot to do with the big national chains having their out-of-town stores that draw people away from the town centres. Independents have been up against it for so many years – it does make it difficult to trade in today’s age. GR: We offer a huge range of products and of course price is always the most important factor, but I think very few independent retailers can survive on price alone now so it’s all about the service and the shopping experience that we can provide. I feel that if you have a really good bricks and mortar store and a truly personal service, it’s worth its weight in gold. And we support charities and sponsor some local sports clubs; we think it’s important to be part of the


community wherever we can. Local people come to us and we feel that we want to give back to them – it’s a two-way relationship at the end of the day. Q: How are you developing your business and making changes in order to survive? AR: Training is so important and we even close both our stores one day every year to take everybody off site for a big training and team building day, which really brings everyone together and it’s worth every penny closing both stores for the day. GR: We also became a member of the Sirius Buying Group a couple of years ago and at its Gibraltar Conference this year we signed up with one of the suppliers and arranged for a new website, new tracking and delivery system, and a new phone system. Also new tablets for our sales team which should make shop floor service even easier! AR: We think it’s so important to be part of the Group; we feel fully supported by the manufacturers and it’s brilliant to speak to other retailers too about how we’re all doing these days. We left the Conference feeling really energised with fresh ideas and really buzzing to tell our colleagues about all the things we discovered. It really inspired us to move on to the next steps of our business.


31


MEE TS THE GROWING DEMAND TO REPL ICATE


BARI S TA-QUAL IT Y DRINKS IN THE HOME*


*ALLEGRA WORLD COFFEE PORTAL, 2021 **BASED ON NIELSENIQ RSV DATA FOR THE TOTAL SUPER PREMIUM


COFFEE CATEGORY FOR THE 12-MONTH PERIOD ENDING JULY16TH 2022, FOR THE GB TOTAL COVERAGE MARKET, ACCORDING TO JDE DEFINED HIERARCHY (COPYRIGHT ©, 2022, NIELSENIQ)


26/08/2022 10:52


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