Indie opinion – Amanda Alexander looks back at Giddy Goat’s 10 years of trading

A decade of Giddiness

Our retail correspondent Amanda Alexander marks 10 years at the helm of Giddy Goat Toys, looks back at a decade behind the counter in Didsbury, Manchester, and looks ahead to the next 10...

September 10 sees us celebrate 10 years of trading, which is quite a milestone. It has absolutely flown by and although there have been some bumps along the way – illness, Covid and the uncertainty when the building was put up for sale - mainly it’s been a fabulous decade.

When I started the shop I was taking over premises with an existing toy shop, run by a lovely lady called Louise. Her shop was called Rumpus and she sold many of the same brands that we still have today. Louise and I didn’t get any solicitors involved in the buying process and although we hadn’t met previously,

we both felt we could trust each “other. She asked for money for the fixtures, fittings and stock, I took out a bank loan and paid it and Giddy Goat Toys was born.

Back then, any takings were ploughed back into stock, particularly in ramming the shop with lots of lower-priced items so that it became more accessible for children spending their pocket money or for parents to pick up end-of-week treats. I kept on the four part-time staff that worked here but paid myself a pittance of a wage so took on another job doing data entry part-time to make ends meet while I built up the business.

Five years on and I had paid off the bank loan, given up the extra job and started to pay myself something nearer approaching the minimum wage - and we had a good loyal local following of customers. At this point, however, I was also struggling with health issues and I had a few years of battling chronic fatigue - which anyone with chronic fatigue, ME or long Covid will know is both debilitating and depressing. Not only did I lack energy but I lost my Tigger bounce and became more of an Eeyore. I could get through the day but then would flake out when I got home. I never once had to close the shop but there were a few occasions where between customers I had to lie down in the stockroom, scrambling to my feet when I heard the door opening. This dragged on for a few years but happily I did make a full Five years on and I had paid off the bank loan, given up the extra job and started to pay myself something nearer approaching the minimum wage and we had a good loyal local following of customers “

recovery and by 2020 I was ready to do Couch to 5k, starting with my friend Linda but finishing separately when Covid struck.

I now run, swim and cycle regularly and my Tigger bounce has returned along with my energy and optimism – so much so that I’m once again looking for another part-time role I can do alongside running the toy shop, partly because I’m ready for a new challenge, but also because my eldest child is now at university and as anyone else with kids at uni knows now the rent ain’t £22 a week any more.

So as far as the next few years go, well this year has been about consolidating our position in the post-Covid world, working out what was going to happen with shop customers and online sales, while dealing with the uncertainty of the building being sold. I feel things are settling down again now and we can once again look at how to grow the business. We recently joined eBay and are on its new seller programme where they work with you to develop your online shop.

We’ve always had a website since day one but like many small businesses, online sales were always low. I tended to see it as a virtual shop window and anecdotally I knew that a lot of customers used it to see what we had in store before coming down to the shop. Although we updated it weekly, however, we didn’t have everything online and it wasn’t linked to the shop till, which caused problems if we did get online sales as inventory figures were not accurate. So, once my health started to pick up I knew that was the area I needed to work on. I moved the website onto the Shopify platform, joined some online marketplace sites and put our stock onto an EPoS system. Luckily for us, all that was in progress when Covid hit and we were able to move to being an online retailer, which essentially kept us going through the long lockdowns.

And despite everything, the past few years were, for the business, good years. The pinnacle of this was being selected to be one of Small Business Britain’s Small Biz 100 where 100 small businesses are chosen to promote in the run-up to Small Business Saturday. It was lovely to get that recognition and support, not to mention the opportunity to attend a networking event in the House of Lords last November.

Moving forward, I hope to be able to continue to grow both personally and professionally and perhaps offer support to new small businesses myself, open a new shop locally or maybe collaborate with another retailer. Despite the predictions of increases in interest rates and inflation and decreases in expendable income, I’m feeling reasonably positive. Parents will always want toys for their children and as retailers the best way of succeeding is by thinking how can we provide what customers want, how can we keep our loyal customers coming back and how can we reach new customers. There are some fantastic new ranges out this year and I’m optimistic that the fourth quarter will be good.

In my 10 years here I’ve worked with some amazing people – two of the original four staff members – Ruth and Lorna - are still here and I’ve taken on various other fabulous people along the way, all of whom have contributed to the ongoing success of Giddy Goat. I know it’s an oft-used phrase but we do feel like a family and I couldn’t have done this without their help and support.

I have made friends with lots of lovely people within the toy industry – sales reps that I’ve known for years have become friends (Jill, Gina, Simon B, Simon P, Joe, Damian, Liz and Hayden to name but a few); I love visiting the toy fairs and catching up with people (oh and seeing the new products too of course) and I’ve got to know a lot of customers locally and seen children grow from toddlers to high school students.

As for my own children, well they’re 10 years older than when I started this giddy new venture. They’re no longer toy testers (although both of them will stay play board games and I’m pleased to say that my eldest son’s girlfriend is also a big board games fan) but they don’t need my time any more, just my money, so I’ll be looking for that interesting side hustle while working hard to ensure that whatever the next few years throws at us Giddy Goat will keep on bouncing.