Friday 8th May 2009
Retailer Praise for Bestway and Batleys
The text below was sent by the FWD to Chris Rolfe at Retail Newsagent re an enthusiastic Bestway / Batleys customer on Wednesday. Highlights are in bold.
The text below was sent by the FWD to Chris Rolfe at Retail Newsagent re an enthusiastic Bestway / Batleys customer on Wednesday. Highlights are in bold.
"Gail Pallett's upbringing in her father's pub left her with a deep understanding of why any business must engage fully with its customers to succeed. That's one of the reasons behind her success as a winner in the Retail Newsagent/My Shop Is Your Shop reader competition to promote the campaign's Walk & Shop activity.
Gail received her £500 cheque at a presentation at her Tividale, Birmingham, store from Alan Toft, MSYS chairman - an informal ceremony constantly interrupted by customers who were all welcomed by a "Hello, darlin' ..."
Owner of the newsagent c-store since 1991, Gail's customers are a priority over and above the line of duty. As an extrovert personality who has overcome lots of retailing competition in the area, she not only knows them by their first name, she knows about their taste in novels.
Gail's Book Club is a library of books read and then donated to the club by customers. They borrow a book to take home to read and pay a very modest sum for the loan - cash which goes to a local charity.
Helped by her son Anthony and assistant Karen Barker, a couple of hours in the shop tells its own story. In comes Frank who is promptly introduced to the MSYS chairman. Says Frank: "There's no doubt about it, Gail is the absolute number one in this area...."
She entered the MSYS competition because she is a big supporter of the campaign. In her entry she said that if she won she would buy a nice set of garden furniture so that customers could sit outside the shop and enjoy a cuppa (It's National Cuppa Day on June 3rd).
She would also buy 'Granny' style shopping carts so that when regulars buy too much to carry home she would lend them a cart to be returned next day. She will also buy a crusher to do more recycling of old bags and newspapers. And to keep children involved she will sponsor an elephant or a tiger so that information on the animal can be featured in the shop to keep children up to date on it.
Gail is a Batleys/Bestway customer. Asked how she rated the wholesaler, she said "They are just tops, but I think more recognition should be made of the people who work there. For example, Kam , the lady at Batleys at West Brom is so lovely and she greets you with a smile and asks about your family. "Then Ibrar, the young man at Bestway in Oldbury is so interested in my business and if he can he will help me with any particular idea I have."
"Let me give you an example, I think Best In own label is excellent value and gives good margins. So I buy a range, group them together in the shop and promote them at 10% off. My customers love it and with the generous margin I can afford to do it, so we are all happy" said Gail.
She adds wistfully that in contrast to news wholesalers who treat her "just as a number...", her food and drink wholesaler gives her a lot of recognition as in a partnership.
Gail is planning her National Independents' Week activities. She carefully put away her 'Local And Proud Of It' t-shirt after NIW 08 just in case she did not get a new one for the coming June 1st. But Gail will get the new 2009 NIW t-shirt and POS kit with branded disposable cups for National Cuppa Day on June 3rd. She's on the list."