67_69_Sarah laker.qxp_Grid 21/05/2025 12:50 Page 1
RETAILER CONVERSATIONS
It was all about the 4ssss as indies Sarah Laker (Stationery Supplies), Sally Matson (Red Card), Sarah Holmes (Pencil Me In) and Sandra Jervis (Creative Cove) formed the Retailer Panel for an insightful talk at the recent London Stationery Show, with the shopkeepers’ wisdom they shared lapped up by all in the audience. PG was all ears to hear what these plucky indies had to say.
PRESS SSSS FOR STATIONERY
Above left: Talking shop at the recent London Stationery Show (right-left) Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker, Red Card’s Sally Matson, Pencil Me In’s Sarah Holmes and Creative Cove’s Sandra Jervis.
products that you’re selling – as an independent it’s all about you. People are coming in to be a part of your story, part of the world that you’ve created. My Facebook page is full of me doing really stupid things, people come in and enjoying it and talked about it. You can’t get that from any sort of online retailer that’s big and faceless. We’ve all got our own little way of getting you into our lives.”
As independent retailers, what’s your USP that multiples or online only operators can’t offer? Sally Matson: “I’ve always wanted an
embossing machine so, when I opened our Little Red shop six months ago I thought that would be something unique. I bought one from Metallic Elephant which means I can personalise leathergoods and notebooks instore. Our original Red Card shop was too busy to put one in. In our Little Red shop I’m going for a higher average spend, and personalisation is a great conversation starter, and offers something you can’t really find within at least a 20-mile radius.”
Above: Wise words from Sarah Holmes. Below left: The audience loved the indies’ chatter.
Sarah Holmes: “We offer personalisation instore, pencil personalisation and pens as well. We print over 60,000 pencils a year as we do that wholesale as well. It’s super fun, because people can come in and just get one pencil if they want, it’s a real customer experience. We also offer things like gift wrapping and lots of great advice about the stationery we stock or other products and generally just great chat – you don’t get that if you’re shopping with Amazon!” Sandra Jervis: “It’s definitely about the experiences, not about the
Being part of the community is vital as an independent, how does your shop support your local community? Sandra Jervis: “We hold the food festival
that draws everybody in lots of other events which are a result of our local businesses working together, and creating experiences for the community. Yes, we all sponsor teams, but it’s about the other things we can do to bring people into the town and give them something back for supporting us.” Sarah Holmes: “We all give raffle prizes so, this year we’ve started to go back and say, ‘okay, we’ll make you personalised set of pencils’. We also look for opportunities to support what regular customers are PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 67