Nursery Today December 2021

Page 12

retail

JOLLY TOTS

Family focussed Independent retailer Jolly Tots have been in business for over 30 years. Nursery Today had the pleasure to speak with Lorretta Owen to find out more. Can you tell us a little about the story behind Jolly Tots? My mum and dad were both made redundant within six months of each other. With two small children money was very tight. My mum started buying bags of used children’s clothes from newspapers adverts. She then spent time cleaning, ironing and selling them. She had been a young mum herself and saw first-hand how expensive new clothes were and how little they were worn before being outgrown. This proved very successful through word and mouth. They had received a small amount of redundancy and made the decision to rent a small shop using these funds. For them it was a HUGE gamble. They named the shop “Jolly Tots” and it went from strength to strength. Gradually they made the decision to sell nursery products rather than baby clothes. The original store is located just two miles away from the current store.

Tell us a little about the floorspace you operate within – how do you manage this? The store in Yardely Birmingham is spread across three shops. We began with the first shop and have gradually spread into the other two. The store is approximately 5000sqm.

12

far away from our existing customers. The Yardley store is located on a busy road with great bus routes ensuring we are easy to visit.

What has been the biggest challenge to the business? Since opening in 1989 the biggest challenge has been to stay competitive against the bigger companies. We have always prided ourselves on providing something for everyone’s budget. Offering exceptional personal customer service. We are proudly independent.

Having been established for more than 30 years, you must have seen many changes to nursery products – which category do you feel has experienced the greatest level of innovation? Car seats have received a great level of innovation. We remember car seats many years ago that could be fixed using a lap belt only and made from polystyrene. Now we have rotating car seats, seats from birth-12 years, isofix fitting and of course car seats with wheels in the form of the amazing Doona.

What was the driving decision behind opening the store in Yardley?

2021 has definitely been a challenging year for many in the industry – what type of challenges did you experience and how did you overcome these?

The main reason we decided to open the Yardley store was the close proximity to the original shop and back then advertising was very expensive, so the majority of gaining customers and awareness for the new shop was done via word and mouth. We didn’t want to move too

2021 and 2020 were enormously challenging. We had to change the way in which we operated. During lockdown staff were reduced from seven to five. We operated a click and collect and courier service. The majority of our sales are done instore and

nursery today

obviously this dropped considerably. We helped overcome this by offering video appointments, going live on Facebook and pushing our facebook marketing.

Since opening in 1989 the biggest challenge has been to stay competitive against the bigger companies. We have always prided ourselves on providing something for everyone’s budget. Offering exceptional personal customer service. We are proudly independent.

How do you keep abreast of new product launches? We are constantly looking out for new products. We read Nursery Today magazine to look out for new brands and innovations. We take note of customer requests and the sort of things they are looking for. We follow new and established brands across the socials. We often do research on our Facebook page by the way of polls etc.

You stock many leading brands in-store, is there a brand that is currently performing well for you? Joie does amazingly well for us. We feel that the brand offers exceptional quality at an affordable price. The Joie 360 car seat is easily our most popular car seat. With many customers enquiring about one before their baby has even been born. The effortless spin function is a must for most perspective parents. We find once parents have purchased a Joie product it’s usually the brand that they want to stick with. They are impressed with the quality and the fact it’s backed with a full two year warranty. Joie is definitely a brand that consistently performs well for us. Venicci is always popular in our store. The customer is always impressed with their sleek styling and gorgeous fabrics. We have a brilliant relationship with Vennici and find their customer service exemplary. They really do help to support the retailer.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.