Facing a major challenge when Aldi opens nearby, Dennis and Linda Williams are examining their business, stressing its local character, boosting chilled, offering everyday low prices, and making sure there’s always a great deal on laundry and loo rolls.
NOBODY could say Dennis and Linda Williams aren’t successful, committed, and progressive retailers. The owners of the Premier outlet Broadway Convenience Store, in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, have a huge collection of Scottish and UK awards collected over many years that show they’ve long been up there with the best.
And one thing they’ve learned over the years is: if you are given a challenge face up to it without hanging about.
At some time in the future Aldi is going to open up almost next door. Fences have gone up around the site and work on demolishing existing buildings is expected to begin soon.
With their minds well and truly focused, they’ve been revisiting their business and making changes, some subtle and others much more noticeable, to the building, to the range, to the communications, and more.
In doing so they’ve used advice from the Premier organisation, and from successful Premier and other retailers and they’ve embraced social media.
“We looked at the exterior first,” Dennis said.
“I’m on the Premier Development Group, 12 retailers from across the UK. We meet twice a year, have a conference call every eight weeks and we’re on WhatsApp as a group.
“Two group members’ shops down south had been done in black and I thought they looked absolutely great.”
The new-look exterior also features new, more modern graphics and LED message screens facing out to the street.
Inside and out the store states one particular message very clearly, that it has been, and continues to be, proud to serve the local area of Oxgangs.
Aldi makes much of serving Scotland, Dennis said, but with a long history of deep involvement in local good causes Broadway Convenience Store gets much closer to the action.
“We want to play to our strengths and we are local, we are serving our local community.”
Inside there have been a number of changes carried out over a couple of recent partial refits. Some have been significant tweaks and some have been, to Dennis’s eye, subtle but important. Main aisles were altered to accommodate a new set of promotional end bays, and the pelmets that run around the tops of the walls have been changed from cream to white, making the entire shop look noticeably brighter.
The chilled and fresh produce section at the rear of the store now has a free-standing promotional chiller and it hosts regular chilled food promos that the shop puts on in addition to its Premier promotions.
“The thing about the chilled specials is that they drive meal purchases, all the ancillary items as well,” Linda said.
“Hall’s and Booker help us with them. We deal with Hall’s Direct.
“Last week we sold 107 packets of chicken breast and 79 whole chickens on promotion in the chiller.
“They were half price, we did a Facebook video on it on the Monday and it was emptied the next day.”
One of their staff members, tech enthusiast Mark, produces the videos and Linda’s becoming known and liked for her sales pitches and recipe ideas, though she complains that she takes a fair bit of teasing from her daughter and her friends.
The wine range has been revamped and includes several lines at everyday low prices, which encourages repeat business and customer loyalty, the couple say.
But they’ve also been branching out into craft gin and gin tastings have been very popular.
Also incredibly popular are everyday low-priced recognisable brands of laundry items and paper products. Customers know they will always get a good deal on large packs of loo rolls because Dennis and Linda overbuy when deals are available so they can ensure constant stock. And they’re also always positioned in the same place in the store.
Interestingly they no longer follow any of the confectionery companies’ merchandising plans. There were just too many SKUs that didn’t work for them.
Now they concentrate on £1 hanging bags and large bars. Volume has soared by 30% while profitability has been maintained.
In a completely different aspect of the store they’re now doing very well with Hermes parcels and are keen to develop that relationship further
Aldi is coming – Dennis and Linda aim to be more than ready.
