42-43_GF.qxp_Grid 08/08/2021 14:05 Page 2
Retailer Focus
Spinning A
Yarn(ton) Back in 2006, Celia Leeson-Cox proudly held her Retas trophy aloft, awarded for the fresh approach she took to Lollipop, her greeting card shop in Bourton-on-the-Water. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, but what has not changed is Celia’s passion for greeting cards, as evidenced by a brand new contemporary card shop in Yarnton Home & Garden, which forms part of an impressive transformation of a long-established business. PG travelled to Oxfordshire to see what Celia, now visual merchandising manager of Yarnton, has been up to. While you would be hard pressed to find a garden centre which did not stock at least a small display of greeting cards, you would struggle to find one which included two distinct greeting card ‘shops’ within its confines, unless of course you had been to Yarnton Home and Gift recently. Forming part of the totally revamped home and lifestyle part of the centre, ideally positioned close to the trendy café, is a brand new design-led card and stationery ‘shop’, selling a very different selection of publishers to those offered in the existing, more traditional greeting card shop which is located in the horticultural part of the centre. The opening of the new card shop is a dream come true for Celia, who joined Yarnton as visual merchandising manager almost three years ago to help drive the store
42
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: The last few years has seen Yarnton undergo a transformation, turning it into an inclusive home, lifestyle and garden destination, attracting a younger demographic, fronted by the new Twiggy branding. Left: As well as being the centre’s visual merchandising manager Celia Leeson-Cox is also its greeting card supremo, and she is delighted by customer reactions to the new contemporary ‘card shop’. Below left: Located in the ‘home and lifestyle’ area of the centre, the new contemporary card shop includes cards on three main themes – botanical, edible and comical. Below: A more traditional greeting card department is located in the plants area of the centre.
transformation from a tired garden centre to a fun and hip home and garden store. “I couldn’t be happier or more proud of our team. Everyone has worked so hard to achieve so much in such a small space of time. It was a daunting task to reinvent the whole shop floor, undertake a major refit of the 250+ cover café and restaurant, refurbish a busy plants area, build a new ‘garden room’ for outdoor living as well as the brand new 5,000 sq
ft home and lifestyle section, which includes our new contemporary greeting card and gift shop…at last!” The huge step change for the business, which was founded some 50 years ago, was kickstarted when a new management team came in around four years ago with a mission to future proof it by really shaking things up. After 10 “very happy years” working for Burford Garden Centre on the visual merchandising side (a role she took on after she had sold her own retail business) Celia