7 minute read
Retailers’ Panel
Gifts Today RETAILERS’ PANEL
The latest members of our Panel – key gift shop owners around the UK talk reopening, restocking and heading for the trade shows again
Clare Wright
Candles and Pearls
Fairford, Gloucestershire
Candles and Pearls opened after the first lockdown in 2020. How did this come about?
In 2019 I started a wedding accessory business selling bridal accessories from a stall at a country market. It was a huge success and, from there, I rented my first shop. I’d had retail management before in clothes, department stores and charity, but this was a childhood dream.
I added in a small gift selection, including candles, skincare and favours, and this did really well, too. As the first lockdown reared its ugly head, a beautiful grade II listed shop that was split into several rooms became available in the town where I lived. There was a delay as all weddings were halted, and then I decided to open a gift shop in the front rooms of the building and it was a great success from the start.
What’s the story behind the name of your shop?
My father was terminally ill and I was looking after him. He knew I’d always wanted a shop of my own and he suggested the name because I love candles and my mum loved pearls.
How did you feel when we went into the second and third lockdowns?
We’d had a really positive opening, as I do a fabulous deal on cards and there’s nowhere else in town to shop for gifts. The second lockdown was probably the hardest for me with the worry over whether I would be able to get the Christmas trade; by the third lockdown I was offering bespoke shopping baskets where you could have a selection of gifts and or cards delivered to your door to choose from. I’d pick up items 24 hours later, sanitize them and leave them for three days before putting them back into baskets.
How have you found government support?
‘I was eligible for the grants relating to having premises which has helped, although I have put a large amount by to pay the tax that will be due on this rather than spending it on supporting the shop.
What’s the mix of merchandise in store?
Forty percent of stock is wedding. For gifts I stock signs from Crafty Clara /East of India and Transomnia; lotions and potions from Agnes & Cat, Dartmoor Skincare and Ancient Wisdom; candles from Best Kept Secrets and The Aromatherapy Co.; wax melts from Sassy Shop Wax; bags from Earth Squared and Shruti at half Moon Bay; jewellery from Spoke 925, Equilibrium and Ask.
How did you source products during first lockdown in readiness for opening?
How has reopening been?
So slow but picking up a bit now – I am not in a big town and there are very few facilities here so people tend to go to the bigger towns, but then you have a good week when you have constant queues. smaller independent businesses like The Dartmoor Skincare Company and Bampton House.
What sells well?
Candles, bath-related products, jewellery, gin-related items and sentiments. I have lots of different customers, from elderly customers who don’t drive, 30+ females to dads
We’d had a really on Saturdays.
positive opening, as I do Do you have an online offering as well as selling
a fabulous deal on cards in-store? Both sides of the and there’s nowhere else in town to shop for gifts ‘ business have their own website. I find that a lot of my customers use it as a catalogue and then come to the store. This was the hardest because I didn’t have a trading history in the gift sector. Many suppliers How will you be celebrating your first anniversary? wouldn’t give me accounts so, Goody bags for all my regulars to start with, I used companies and launching a loyalty card. I like Joe Davies, Gainsborough also have lots of new ranges and Whistlefish, alongside to launch.
Maggie Thornton
Alligator Pear Tadworth, Surrey
What’s your mix of merchandise?
We sell gifts, cards, clothing, fashion accessories, home interiors, small furniture, children’s clothing and toys/ novelties. At the moment, bestsellers include Gisela Graham interior accessories, clothing especially floral dresses from the likes of Miss Shorthair, casual t-shirts from Chalk and new logo t-shirts from Megan Claire. Our typical customers are females aged 40 to 70-years old.
Why are you going to Home & Gift?
To source new products and see and touch items instead of making mistakes by buying online. I am going with my buyer/manager and possibly one other member of staff. Home & Gift is special because it’s the first to kickstart the autumn and Christmas trends. It’s good to get ahead of the pack so we get access to the first drop of lines that will be popular.
Fashion accessory companies like Pure, Reevo and Powder show their autumn ranges and it’s great to see the trends and colours for the autumn and get in early with our orders. Hopefully they’ll all be there again this year.
I’d like to see as many suppliers as possible showing new product. We haven’t had anything new for so long and the challenge will be giving customers a reason to shop in the store and not buy online. The only way we can do this is by showing lovely new interesting products. And the only place we can find them is at the buying fairs kickstarted by Harrogate.
Gifts Today RETAILERS’ PANEL
Anna Zientara
Magpie & Crow
Haddington, East Lothian
What’s the story of your shop?
Everything started in 2014 when my husband and I were looking for an opportunity to open our own shop. At first we planned to open a clothing store, but then the opportunity came up to take over a stationery shop. We renamed it Magpie & Crow because these two birds are very clever and they like to pick up shiny items for their nests – we hope our customers have the same experience in our shop.
What’s the mix of merchandise in store?
We have very wide range of products, from office essentials like lever arch files and copy paper, to artist materials and greetings cards. Tiger Stationery’s products are a big part of our stock. We also stock shredders, paper trimmers, laminators and printer inks. Fans of pens and
What sort of stationery items do you feel are strong for the gifting market?
After six years of trade I can tell that boxed pens from brands like Cross or Sheaffer are leading in the choice for gifts, closely followed up by premium notebooks, boxes of note cards or artist related products – sets of paints, quality sketch books or artist quality pencils. Nice pens seem to be a universal, timeless and useful gift for many occasions. The same goes for the notebooks and social stationery. Art-related gifts are great choice for anyone who is interested in creating art, both beginners and professional artists alike.
handwriting can find a large choice of pens and markers by Pilot, Cross, Parker and others.
We stock lovely greeting cards from Noel Tatt company, colourful school stationery from Maped-Helix as well as office essentials from Q-Connect. Three years ago we started to stock art and crafts products for everyone, starting from budget sketchbooks for kids and beginners and ending with high quality Daler-Rowney watercolour pads. We also have Winsor & Newton paints, high quality paintbrushes, pastels, colouring pencils and other products for artists.
Recently I received my first order from Partisan Products – elegant sets of note cards, writing paper with envelopes and notebooks. Many people from the area, especially the self-employed, return to us every year to buy their diary for the year. We have big selection of them, plus we sell Filofax inserts that are surprisingly popular in this era of ubiquitous mobile phones.
On top of that we stock traditional stationery – ink in bottles, carbon hand copy paper, pen refills, wide choice of envelopes and postal goods, address books, and much more!
What are the trends you’ve spotted for 2021 in stationery?
I can clearly see the trend for eco-friendly product such as pads or folders made of recycled paper. Also fashion stationery like notebooks or document wallets with colourful and modern designs are very popular. What I can see through the years is that in our shop the traditional designs are always winning with the trends.
