John’s Blog

Marks & Spencer have recently announced a major new environmental sustainability strategy designed to transform every part of the business and establish it as the UK’s leading “green retailer”. This five year plan, entitled ‘Plan A’ (there is no plan B) pledges A$452 million to become fully carbon neutral, ensure no waste goes to landfill, overhaul the supply chain to limit environmental impact, enhance ethical trading initiatives and educate customers

Time Magazine readers will be aware that in the Best Invetions of 2007 edition (19 Nov 07) there was a mention of an ATM for books which would be ideal for libraries. This machine has been developed by On Demand Books.com The Espresso book machine will produce a 300 page book with a colour cover in 3 minutes for $3. The captial cost of the machine is US$50,000. For more

By John Stanley Independent retailers had a “heyday” during the 1970’s and 1980’s, then “box stores” saw the opportunity to make a commodity offer and as a result gained market share with the result that independent retailers that did not know how to compete, disappeared from the marketplace. We are now in a new era. The era of the internet and lifestyle retailing. It is estimated that 40% of purchases

By John Stanley To be a successful hardware retailer in today’s competitive market, I believe, you need to get three categories correct in your store, gardening, paint and power tools. In my previous article I concentrated on the garden category; in this edition we will concentrate on the paint category. Don’t Sell the Paint The key to success is not to get hooked on tins of paint; this is just

By John Stanley Big is better, this was a call to action as recently as a few years ago, it is rarely used in the marketplace today. New “buzz” words have arrived like, sustainability, carbon footprint and community retailing, these are the new words being used at conferences and in the press. These are not just words; they can be developed into strategic action plans that can make a difference

Thanks to Keith Turbett at Scheurich for discovering this gem. Movers in the USA spend on average $7,300.00 in new products and services in the first 90 days after the move. How do they do their research? 67% ask new neighbours 61% use the internet 23% email people Ref: Clickz.com 10.2.07

By John Stanley At the recent H.T.A Conference, Charles Notcutt gave a passionate speech – “If mankind’s existence was condensed into the average life of a business, 30 years, then in customer terms the business would expect a customer count increase of 35000% in the next two years”. At present the first world needs three planets to keep it alive at present living standards. These are scary thoughts. Charles’ message

The Business Life 2007 Salary Survey for the UK was published in the October edition of the British Airways Business Life Magazine. It makes some interesting comparisons: UK Average Wage – £29,331 National Minimum Wage – £11,481 Premier League Footballer – £676,000 Chief of Defence – £219,834 Prime Minister – £188,849 Senior Retail Buyer – £50,000 Brand Manager – £36,428 Librarian – £24,606 Store Detective – £22,500 Gardener – £16,896

by John Stanley If I had suggested that paint suppliers were leading the way in horticultural marketing a few years ago, you wouldn’t have taken me seriously, but times change. Monrovia Nurseries, the leading plant brand in the USA now has a marketing director who originates from the paint industry and garden centres are now considering selling tins of paint as one of their categories, so what has changed? The

I met Elmar Fischer-Weiberger of Adamah on the Czech Organic Workshop. Adamah are global innovators when it comes to box schemes. Ten years ago, the farm, located near Vienna, was transformed into an organic farm with the aim of supplying produce in a box scheme to the residents within a 20km radius. The result, is ten years later, they have a real challenge coping with the demand. Why has it

September 2007 saw the last H.T.A. national conference. From now on it will be a regional event rather than a national event, a sign of changing times. The UK industry in 2006/07 has had its ups and downs with the sector seeing a £230 million increase in sales, even though core products were down 3%. September 2006 to 2007 saw a 12% increase in sales and then the wettest summer

By John Stanley The great pricing debate was started in a workshop in the U.K in August 2007. The debate took place in the U.K, but I’m sure the message applies to other countries. It’s not just a British phenomena. In the room were some of the leading growers and retailers from the UK, Ireland and Denmark. Put Your Prices Up It was generally agreed that the wholesale price of

By John Stanley The 2007 CANGC Garden Expo from my point of view was one of the best ever. Research in the UK indicates that visitors are attending trade shows to look for new ways of merchandising and new products. Gone are the days when they go with an order book and socialize. This year delegates would not have been disappointed in their search for the new. Congratulations to the

By John Stanley Independent retailers have often found it difficult over the last decade . Global retailer have gained market share and as a result many small business have gone by the wayside. But, we need only to look at the retail mix more closely to see that the small business is still thriving. If one looks at the USA as an example, 90% of businesses in that country still

25% of Americans do not read any books ….. this must be an opportunity. Research reported on CNN August 21st, 2007

By John Stanley The Velvet Revolution of 1989 in the Czech Republic changed the dynamics of the market completely in this country. Prior to 1989 the country was governed by Communist Russia and gardening was not a priority for the 20million inhabitants. Today Czech is a thriving democracy as the growing wealth is resulting in a vibrant horticultural industry. When “the wall came down” there was a rush of Western

Halloween is nearly upon us. Disneyland celebrates the event in an exciting way. A walk around Disneyland will provide theme ideas that you can use in your store. John Stanley is an internationally recognised conference speaker and retail consultant with over 25 years experience in 18 countries. He has authored several successful marketing and retail books including the best seller Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know. John’s

I promised myself that I would visit the Whole Foods store while in the UK. This store in Kensington is their first site in the UK. For those who are not familiar with them, they are the fresh food retailer from the USA; they are taking the market by storm in that country and in my view one of the top five inspirational merchandisers in the world. I went to

By Fiona Emberton www.embervision.cc Brisbane (nicknamed BrisVegas for it’s glitzy image) in Australia is to be the host for the 2010 IFLA congress. Well done to the ALIA (Aussie Library Association) team including Sue Hutley its Director. I have lived in Brisbane for over 15 years and it’s unbeatable for friendliness and a lovely way of life. (John Stanley may not let this be published as he thinks the same

Following news that Paula Ryan will present a workshop at the librarians’ national conference, to encourage librarians to update their style and image, Christchurch City (NZ) library staff dressed up in the William Morris smocks they used to wear in the 1960s. See the attached picture, and let it never be said again that librarians lack a sense of humour. (They used to wear the smocks while moving books around

Ref: Toronto Star, Living, 22 August 2007 According to research released in August 2007 by USA’s AMP Agency, women are creatures of habit when they go shopping. The way they shop is as Gen X shoppers will stay with them for the rest of their lives. In the USA 92% of all adult women and 96% of mothers are in charge of family purchases. When you consider that retailing in

Ref: The London Independent, 13th September 07, By Martin Hickman Consumer Affairs Correspondent The era of spend, spend, spend is coming to an end. Britain’s shoppers, who for years have been racking up debt on credit cards and home loans with abandon, are finally starting to cut back on their expenditure. A slew of economic and retailing figures this month suggests that families struggling to pay higher mortgage payments are

Ref: The Belfast Telegraph, Thursday, September 13, 2007, By Karen Attwood Chocolate fountains and the reintroduction of “old favourites” has helped the new management at Thorntons reverse a sales decline. Mike Davies, who joined the chocolatier as chief executive from Mars in October last year, said yesterday that Thorntons had been focusing on improving its products, stores and people as he unveiled a 36.5 per cent rise in full-year pre-tax

It was Robyn Waters, the Counter Trends guru who brought to my attention that one trend is taking place at present is that old things are back, they are new again. Her examples really show a trend taking place in the marketplace. Vespa Motor Scooters When I was a teenager Vespa Scooters, from Italy, were really “cool” (except they were “hot” then). Now Vespa are back and “cool”. The company

Linda and I recently started buying organic purple carrots. We are not the only ones who are buying or growing Heirloom vegetables and tomatoes. Look for the trends, what can you do with some of those old products that can me made new again?