L-r: Joint owner Sarah Charlton, sales associate Lil Harris, and Bill Nettelfield
RETAIL INTERVIEW
Bill & Bert’s
Bill & Bert’s
gets bigger Home & Gift enthusiast Bill Nettelfield, owner of Bill & Bert’s in Colchester, talks about his passion for trade shows – and his latest business project What’s your background? I’ve always been in retail. Previously I had a furniture store, and a gift shop in Cheltenham. I helped set up the London Aquarium gift store, and then, with the original owners, set up a chain of pop-up stores: Calendar Club. I left Calendar Club in 2017.
‘We are enormous fans of trade shows and treat them very seriously. I firmly believe that suppliers need to exhibit, and retailers need to attend. If you want to find something interesting and new, you’ve got to walk the aisles’ 40 Gifts Today
Why did you decide to open a gift shop? I’m too young to retire and I’ve always loved retail. So, when the opportunity came along to take a site in Colchester town centre left vacant by boutique store Karen Millen, I thought, ‘with a shop of this size [just under 2,500sq ft] we could do something differently - and on a larger scale - than some gift shops’. I opened Bill & Bert’s in August 2019 with my wife’s daughter Sarah Charlton. [Bill’s beloved schnauzer dog Bertie, who sadly isn’t with us any more, inspired the name of the store.] Fortunately, Bill & Bert’s became an instant hit, and this year the opportunity came along to extend into the old Trespass [outdoor specialist] unit next door by knocking a huge walkthrough. We almost doubled in size to approximately 4,500sq ft on April 8. How would you describe your gift range? Quality gifts at sensible prices for grandchildren through to grandparents. What are your key categories? We sell an enormous range that varies from ladies’ clothes and bags to soft toys, games, lighting, candles, hardware, pottery, glassware
and socks. The range is endless and is one of the reasons we have been successful, because customers can buy something for themselves as well as everyone in the family. Who are your key suppliers? I deal with 100-plus suppliers, but we do have some stand-out large accounts such as Jellycat, Wrendale, DCUK, Swole Panda, Roka of London, The Bottled Baking Co., Cartwright & Butler, Spice Kitchen, Ashleigh & Burwood, Portmeirion, Kate of Kensington, Little Weaver Arts, Rosie Made A Thing, and Lucilla Lavender. How do you find products? We are enormous fans of trade shows and treat them very seriously. I firmly believe that suppliers need to exhibit, and retailers need to attend. If you want to find something interesting and new, you’ve got to walk the aisles. This year we’ve been to Spring Fair
Top 5 Best Sellers 1. Roka of London bags 2. Freckleface wax melts 3. Chilly’s water bottles 4. DCUK ducks 5. Swole Panda socks and belts
