nickshanagher

Local and proud it says on this internal sign in the Gosforth branch of Loco, a new concept store from Nisa, that I visited last week. I am yet to meet the owners of North East Convenience Stores but the brothers have set out their stall with this execution. When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by the staff, who were pleased that we had travelled from London to look around. It was a Tuesday afternoon and not especially busy. Even so, the shop was immaculately merchandised. The coffee assortment looks great. So too the chilled bottled lager...which demonstrates an attitude towards having a comprehensive range rather than profit optimisation. This seems to be in keeping with the whole shop which has a very high quality finish. Great flooring and lighting plus good signs...  And still there are some areas for improvement, with this deals end unit looking cluttered... And this offer doesn't pack a punch. But this is mere quibbling. Loco as executed in Gosforth

Written in 2005, Maurice Clegg’s A Life is a book that will help ambitious business people to make a success of their commercial lives – and perhaps their family lives too. One thing that is remarkable about Clegg is his ability to make decisions and then to follow through. In his foreword, Clegg says that he is writing a history of his life for his children. Born in 1930 in Merseyside into a family of local traders, he determined to become a seaman and was trained for the merchant navy. His first assignment took him to India and post-war Japan but he suffered from seasickness and at the age of 20 he persuaded his uncle to give him a job in the family laundry business. The book briskly deals with the next 53 years of his business career in which he bought out his uncle and moved into the workwear rental market, competing successfully against major PLCs. Across 100 of the 160 pages, Clegg describes with great honesty his business ideas and how his values helped his co

At the launch party for Pro-retail 2012 held in London this January most of the independent retailers there told me they were inspired by Palmer and Harvey’s taster event for the Futurezone. The Futurezone is a multi site feature of this year’s Pro-Retail trade exhibition to be held at Telford on 24 and 25 April. So when I saw the pre-publicity for Michio Kaku’s new book, Physics of the Future , and its promise to show what the world would be like in the year 2100, I was inspired to have a read and to report back to local retailers on what the future holds. The book delivers on this promise but on so much more as well. If you are a business person who likes new ideas and to think about what may work this is a book for you This paragraph from his introduction hooked me. If you like it you will love the book. “Later, when I was in high school, I decided to follow in the footsteps of these great scientists and put some of my learning to the test. I wanted to be part of this great r

Shoppers don’t enjoy shopping this category, says Doug Walker of Heineken at a press conference where he and his team are launching their Star retailer initiative. His job title is a mouthful: head of off-trade customer marketing. In the press release he is quoted as saying: “Star retailer isn’t anything ground breaking or new”. However, it is notable. Not only does it have a strong basis in research but it also demonstrates the credibility of good category management.   In the flesh Doug is on a mission to sell more beer and cider and you have the impression he could talk for a day about sales performance and future targets. Local retailers, he says, should pay attention to four key enablers: which are about creating a positive perception of beer and cider, selling higher value brands, selling responsibly and making shopping more fun. He is armed with an array of power point slides and a simple planogram for the category and a three year programme. Doug is also talking about an a