Retailer Profile: Fleet Street Epping

A good reason to shop local

Bill Davidson, Owner of Fleet Street Epping under the Independent Liquor Group banner, describes how he has utilised good products, good value and good service to give the community the best reasons to shop local.

In the suburb of Epping in Sydney’s northwest, the local community enjoys a fresh taste of premium retail with a relatively new store under the Independent Liquor Group’s (ILG) Fleet Street banner.

Owner of this store is Bill Davidson, who actually has a professional background in the media but wanted to get back to his roots in liquor - he grew up close-by the industry in his family’s large country hotel.

What Davidson set out to achieve with Fleet Street Epping was something stylish that really fit into the local neighbourhood and reflected the tastes of the community. He started this endeavour on the site of another liquor store, overhauling the philosophy, outlook and offering of the shop, while also revolutionising the fit out and branding with the help of ILG. The end result is unrecognisable to what it once was, and this renovation is what Davidson has described as “the most successful thing” that has ever happened to the store.

“I’m a local community bottle shop, I’m not trying to be a major retailer. I’m not a ‘big beer barn’ on a major road, I’m a community based liquor store that’s providing good products in my neighbourhood. If you put that back in the community, what I’ve seen is that the locals come down and treat this place like theirs,” Davidson explained.

“Whatever business you’re running, there’s three cornerstones to what you’ve got to provide - good product, at good value, with good service.”

There are several components to Davidson’s philosophy to deliver on these cornerstones and keep the community feeling welcome and satisfied with Fleet Street Epping. One core part of this has been to keep things fresh and new in the product offering, searching for products that fit the needs of the local clientele.

“We’ve increased craft, we’ve increased wine and we’ve increased spirits, all at a price point that suits our neighbourhood and beyond, and everything has grown exponentially from there. We don’t specialise in anything, we just specialise in finding the type of product that the neighbourhood wants to buy,” Davidson said.

The thirst for a new, interesting and fun outlook also extends past the product range for the business too. Davidson maintains an active digital presence for the store, utilising ILG’s systems but also social media and external platforms to boost awareness and online abilities, again to suit the needs of the local customer.

But as Davidson pointed out, it’s not solely customer needs that are met with this philosophy about delivering the best. He has found this to be super important for maintaining relationships of success with suppliers too.

“A better-looking shop brought a better-looking product with a stronger relationship from our suppliers… If you can find suppliers that are on the same path as you, then you'll see growth in your business. I’ve found that with about 20 suppliers which I treat as partners, not just suppliers,” Davidson said.

Independent retailers who nail all theseelements to their business will be the mostsuccessful, according to Davidson. Consumersalready want to support local businesses, butthey won’t if they aren’t getting a good product,good value and/or good service.

He said: “You can’t just expect people to shop local, you’ve got to give them a reason to shop local.”