retail
LITTLE POPPETS
Expansion for
Little Poppets This month we question Little Poppets owner Caroline Pizzey to find out how they are currently operating and their recent refurbishment. Little Poppets opened in 2012 and relocated in 2014. What was the decision behind your current location in Sevenoaks, Kent?
David and I are originally from Kent. On deciding to open our own Nursery store after both working in the industry for many years, we spoke to our main suppliers for advice on where they thought in the country was lacking a nursery store and it was quite unanimous that North Wales at the time was the best location that we could open. We were unfortunately unable to open in Kent at the time due to already having stores across the county. In 2014 I fell pregnant with our second child and decided that we wanted to be closer to our families, it all slotted in to place perfectly as Babycare in Pettswood was closing for retirement so we were able to secure our location in Sevenoaks.
How successful has your store been since opening your doors?
We were very successful in Llandudno, so on moving to Sevenoaks and starting again the first couple of years took a while to get established but with the help of social media, word of mouth and the Health Visitor centre in the hospital next door we have now become one of the largest nursery stores in the South East. We have every 2 years expanded our premises which has been a huge success.
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nursery today
Since opening your doors, what would you say has been your largest challenge or achievement?
Our largest challenge has been keeping up with online/website, the ever-changing colourways and pricing, this a job in itself! We for the first time in years now have a current modern page (we hope!). Our largest achievement has been increasing our floor space and establishing our brand within the local area.
What is your current floorspace and how do you manage this?
We have an unusual store compared to most as we are technically 5 shops that are interconnected, when we first started we were one shop and as the years have passed we have ‘knocked’ through in to each one as they have come available.
A s a store I feel th at w e sp ec ia lise in all th in gs B ab yS ty le ! We have no w, sinc e retu rn in g in June , beco me th ei r fir st offic ia l Fl ag Sh ip store.
which has proven successful for you?
Do you place brand names at the heart of your business?
Appointment Only! This has proven to be a better way for our customers to shop with us. Our customers receive a more personal one to one service where they can view our whole store in comfort. This has increased our sales massively as we have found only serious customers are booking.
How important are these to you?
You stock many key nursery brands - is there a particular category that you feel you are experts in?
I believe that our business would not be where it is today without the major brands. This is most definitely the heart to our business.
These are incredibly important to us and we spend a lot of time working with these brands and protecting them within our area.
With the current pandemic, have you altered any aspect of your business
As a store I feel that we specialise in all things BabyStyle! We have now, since returning in June, become their first official Flag Ship store. We have every range in every colour on display for customers and have just officially opened with their support the first UK