Retailer in Numbers

“The best selling products of all time are those lovingly hand made by local artisans, who have amazing stories and create timeless toys. For example toys by the late Derek Orme, a gentleman in his 80s who hand crafted beautiful, timeless, keepsake toys from left over wood from building projects.

“As for best selling toys at the moment, it has to be books – I have such a huge selection of diverse and interesting books that are usually quite hard to find. These have been super sellers over the Christmas period.”

OLD AND NEW FRIENDS

“My longest supplier is Wee Gallery, they supply the most wonderful black and white, beautifully made (and ethical) baby treats; from art cards through to swaddle blankets. They’ve been with Small Stuff since the beginning. The newest supplier is Janod and wow, their products have been a huge hit too. High quality wooden toys in brilliant packaging – truly brilliant.”

WHAT’S HOT

“Old fashioned style toys are really popular – spinning tops, skipping ropes, yoyos etc.”

Above: Traditional toys have done well in the store over the past few years.

SMALL STUFF IN NUMBERS

Offering a unique retail experience to parents and carers in store and online, Small Stuff prides itself on showcasing products from carefully selected suppliers which match its sustainable values. The retailer has been offering gifts, books and educational aids for children from birth through to seven years old since opening as a pop-up in 2016.

Inset: Owner Hellen shares the ups and downs of her story as a shop owner on social media and says her customers really appreciate it. Above: Small Stuff offers a range of gifts, books and educational aids, all ethically sourced.

• “We have two and a half in our team – me, my wonderful assistant and organiser,

Lizzie, and the chief toy tester, Rafe – my son who’s five.” • “The average spend per customer is £30-50 on average.” • “The last delivery was a huge restock, so a good five boxes.” • “I refresh the window display a lot. I love the creative aspects of running a shop, so I’m almost swapping it up weekly.” • “The shop is a lot bigger than you would think. Even though we’re Small Stuff, we’re 15 grizzly bears squared.”

Below: Small Stuff is a proud holder of Planet Mark.

POWER OF SOCIAL

“Almost 70% of my online sales come through my social media channels. Customers buy in to people’s stories and journeys, especially at the moment and keeping it real (especially as a working parent) seems to resonate with a lot of my followers.”

ONLINE SERVICE

“It’s not always been obvious how to prepare [for the changes due to the pandemic] – however by putting in the work early on, spending days and nights revamping the website, and changing the business model to replicate the care, attention and experience we give in store – online has absolutely pulled us through.

“We now offer so many shipping options, collect in-store, free gift wrapping and gift message options as well as zoom customer appointments and really utilising social media channels.”

MY HERO!

Store owner Hellen Stirling-Baker has one stand out hero product: “It has to be the Ollie Ella Dinkum Dolls collection. They fly off the shelves. A brilliant BCorp brand, their dolls and outfits and accessories make wonderful friends for children of all ages.”

Above: Hellen offers books that are a little more unusual and difficult to find in her store.

SHOP LOCAL

“This year has been incredible, the amount of conversations I’ve had with my customers about shopping small and even customers telling me they’d chose to support me even when the big online retailers were often cheaper or could get it to them quicker.”