20-21_Grid 21/11/2017 10:46 Page 20
OVER THE COUNTER
Read All About it!
Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, reviews some recent headline news. ‘Bill Greeno qualifies for Wimbledon 2018. Andy Murray reportedly worried at the new UK tennis threat.’ ‘Clintons in rumoured takeover of Card Factory wants to form largest card chain in UK history’. ‘Garfield car window plush outselling Moz the Monster and Paddington as the fastest selling soft toy of Christmas 2017’. ‘Footfall on Britain’s high street at its highest level since figures began’. ‘Retail businesses the easy option for young entrepreneurs’. So you have read these headlines, perhaps with a little shock, surprise, and I dare say a few of them may have made you smile wryly. In reality they are of course great examples of what is now commonly called ‘fake news’. The term ‘fake news’ has been around for many years, but it’s usage has only recently become mainstream because of Donald Trump when, in his speech to the media, he accused, rightly or wrongly, the American press of creating and manipulating stories about him. Now the fake news headlines I have created have little or no truth in them, well accept for the tennis story! So what is the point in them at all? Simply, my headlines are a bit of light relief, but they cannot mask the real story that shouts out daily – ‘Retail is becoming a difficult business’. On Saturday 11 November the Daily Mail’s headline reflected this: ‘Christmas Sales on already! As high street retailers hit panic button’. This of course does not help anyone. Would I go as far as to say it is a fake headline? Well maybe not. But it certainly does not encourage the public to go out and buy. Consumers are uncertain as it is with the introduction of Black Friday and Christmas promotion days. They question themselves, whether they should wait before purchasing? 20
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
It is of course human nature to try and get the best price, but for retailers it means a delay in people starting their Christmas spending. Us retailers are all sitting with our shops literally bursting at the walls with a great and varied selection of Christmas cards, gifts, chocolate and jewellery. We are literally waiting for that Christmas uplift that seems to come later and later each year.
The BBC published an article online last month entitled ‘5 ways to fix our High Street’ and I, like many retailers, couldn’t wait to read what the new revolution would be for 2018. These were the five points: Footfall - Everyone’s favourite topic. This is universally accepted as being down on the high streets, and unless we go to a major city I think that this has to be pretty much expected. I was in London for three days at the beginning of November and the hustle and bustle on the streets was quite magical. All the shops (sweeping generalisation) seemed and felt busy and the atmosphere meant that you really enjoyed just being out among the buildings and among the people. The store displays were really quite inspiring and I really wanted to be there. I enjoyed my time there. Contrast this to when I have been in other town or city centres recently, and there simply is not this excitement or interest. This isn’t to say that there are not good shops in other towns or cities, the problem is there is not enough of them set together to peak interest and encourage park and pay. To almost confirm this, it was interesting to note that out of Retail Week’s top 25 stores in the UK based on design, 22 of them were in London. The BBC report goes on to interview a BID manager from Blackburn who said that they were changing perceptions with their events to help year round footfall. As chair of our local BID I would agree that events do help, but the bottom line is the shops and shopping has to improve and masking it with a great carnival or light switch-on does Above: Is Paperlink’s Bill Green a threat to Andy Murray? Bill battled PG’s Warren Lomax for almost five hours in a tennis charity challenge. Left: This year’s tropical themed Christmas lights on London’s Carnaby Street.