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Retailer Face To Face: The Granite House
The Generation Game How many independent gift retailers can remember selling a troll or a Garfield or even a first generation Furby? You can probably count them on one hand. But for one gift shop owner, Alistair Ness of The Granite House, based in Scotland's Fort William in the Highlands, some of the fads, to include Beanie Babies, Nomination and Hypercolor T-shirts, take him back to a time when his parents owned the shop, and he was a very young, extra pair of hands. Now, some 40 years on, as Alistair and his own family get ready to celebrate the shop's milestone anniversary, he reminisces with PG&H about times past and present. For Alistair Ness, going into gift retail was a given. "I worked in the business after school and at weekends, and apart from a stint at Edinburgh University, I have never worked anywhere else," he explains. Casting his mind back to 1977, Alistair recalls that, for the first two summers, his parents ran the business as a café, with their names above the door. (It's still know as J&K Ness's even though Alistair changed the name to The Granite House in 1985!). "But that was only until an enterprising salesman offered to leave a stand of souvenirs on the counter, saying that if they didn't sell he'd collect them on his next visit," explains Alistair. "Of course they did sell, and the following year, the café was closed and the gift shop was born. In those early years, my parents worked long hard hours and did everything themselves, including building all the shopfittings," he remembers.
"My dad's background in finance may not have helped his buying skills, but he knew how to drive a hard bargain and how to run a profitable business." Yet the gift industry was a different proposition back in the day. "In the late 1970’s, it was much harder to buy stock," he reflects. "There were fewer suppliers and they weren’t geared up to supply nationwide. My parents opened up accounts where they could, and fortunately Top: The shop's first carrier bag. The artwork was hand drawn by Alistair. Above: Alistair Ness, owner of The Granite House, with his daughters Katherine (left) and Gillian. Left: The clothing department.
made some good choices. In fact, some of our biggest and best suppliers are still with us. For example, we have bought jewellery from Ortak and C L Edwards, and watches from Lorus, for over 30 years. Container Group Buying (CGB), or Omicways as they were at the time, have dealt with us over three generations, as have Charles Buyers and Dunoon, along with several others." Over the years, The Granite House has evolved its product sectors as the gift industry itself has evolved. "Fort William is a tourist town, and the summer months are always crazily busy, but we have always tailored the store to appeal to the loyal locals who shop with us throughout the year," says Alistair. Realising that The Granite House had become a destination store in the Highlands, with the widest possible demographic, gifts were gradually joined by clothes, music and toys with varying degrees of success. "By Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide
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