Spending this week visiting 20 more retailers in Dumfries engaged in the Let’s Talk Shop Support Programme funded by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
Another very interesting selection of shops all contributing positively to the diverse range available in the town. More to follow.
An evening retail workshop focusing on best practice in relation to visual merchandising and overall shop presentation is to take place on Monday 17 November at the Cairndale Hotel, Dumfries.
In this latest visit to Dumfries, in addition to the workshop, the Shop Doctor will be working with up to 32 independent retailers who will not only be receiving an advisory visit in the new year, but a mystery assessment visit between now and Christmas.
This is the final stage of the Shop Doctor Support Programmes for Dumfries & Galloway Council that will have seen some 232 shops across 15 towns visited and in receipt of one-to-one advice since March 2012.
For further information, please contact Grant Coltart on grant.coltart@dumgal.gov.uk
There has been considerable activity in Whitehaven over recent months to assist retailers to recognise and maximise opportunities to attract and retain customers in the increasingly positive retail environment within the town.
Ensuring that shops present themselves in a manner that engages customer interest is a critical issue, particularly in the lead up to Christmas. To help identify such opportunities, The Shop Doctor has been invited to provide a Retail Workshop to retailers in the town focusing on key aspects of visual merchandising.
In advance of the workshop, The Shop Doctor will also be reviewing how customers might perceive the town and its shops. He will also engage retailers attending the workshop in discussions about issues that impact on the creation of positive first impressions and how any negative issues might be overcome.
The workshop will be taking place on Tuesday 11th November from 6pm until 8pm in the Education Suite at the Rum Story.
Spaces are very limited, so to enquire about availability, please e-mail Rachel.Rudd@cforlp.org.uk or call 01900 825213.
As part of the Dumfries & Galloway Business Week, our Shop Doctor presented the “Bricks with Clicks” workshop on Monday 27th October. The presentation looked at the challenges facing online retailing and how shops might engage in the online opportunity.
The workshop included a formal PowerPoint presentation followed by a discussion about issues facing the retailers in attendance.
Feedback received since the workshop has indicated that the retailers attending the session found it informative and are intending to further increase their engagement online either through website development or active participation on social media platforms.
Fourteen of Moffat’s independent traders took part in the recent Shop Doctor support programme following the well-attended Masterclass on the evening of Monday 20th October.
An intriguing range of some of the town’s hidden gems were visited on the days following the Masterclass enabling our Shop Doctor to better understand the objectives of the individual traders and identify roots to help further improve their existing businesses.
Participating retailers included 17 Reasons, The Art Work Room, Brodies Restaurant & Wine Bar, Café Ariete, Carole’s Milk Bar, Chantillie House, Eclectic Emporium, Flowers by Fiona, Harvest Time, Manse Furnishings, Moffat Pottery, Pets Corner, Present Time and R. Little Bakers Ltd.
As with every other retailer visited in this programme, funded by Dumfries & Galloway Council, a comprehensive Shop Doctor recommendations report will be compiled, identifying the opportunities to help increase their trading vitality.
The next stage in the programme will be delivered in Dumfries from Monday 17th November. Retailers interested in participating should contact Grant Colthart at Dumfries & Galloway Council via Grant.Coltart@dumgal.gov.uk
Preparations are well in hand for another series of one-to-one advisory sessions with independent retailers in Dumfries & Galloway when the Shop Doctor visits Moffat in the week commencing October 20th.
These sessions will take place on the days following a Retail Masterclass which is being presented to retailers on the Monday evening.
Our Shop Doctor comments “With the challenges facing our High Streets still impacting on trading vitality, it is essential to ensure that individual shops and their towns as a whole recognise the importance of setting themselves aside from others by becoming destinations that enhance the customer experience”.
The Masterclass and subsequent visits will help those involved in the support programme to recognise and implement routes to maximising such opportunities.
Fourteen businesses in Kirkcudbright enrolled in the Let’s Talk Shop Support Programme delivered week commencing 15th September.
The businesses involved were: Kathryn King Designer Jewellery Belfry Cafe Kirkcudbright Working Print Studio Tongland Family Golf Centre Thomson & Dunbar Electricians Wm Law Willow A&E Kennedy All Natural Me Masterpiece Sandwich Bar Lindsay Line Snakatak Tolbooth Crafts The Wee Wardrobe
Each business will receive a comprehensive report from The Shop Doctor summarising containing recommendations providing opportunities to revitalise trading opportunities. In addition, a grant of £500 is available from Dumfries & Galloway Council to assist toward the implementation of any of the recommendations made.
Independent retailers in Moffat wishing to participate in the programme to be delivered week commencing 20th October should contact Grant.Coltart
The recent Let’s Talk Shop support programme in East Lothian provided opportunity for ten independent businesses in East Lothian to receive one-to-one advice from The Shop Doctor in the days following the retail masterclass held on the evening of Tuesday 26th August.
Businesses participating in the programme were Footlights Dancewear and Haddington Herbals in Haddington; whynot?, Tulipa and The Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick; Knowes Farm Shop in East Linton; Dunbar T-shirt Shop and 1650 Coffee Shop in Dunbar; Cashmere Barn at Fenton Barns Retail Village and The Merrygoround in Gullane.
Each of the businesses will be receiving a comprehensive Shop Doctor Recommendations Report detailing potential opportunities to help further develop retail vitality within each of the diverse range of businesses visited.
Haddington Farmers’ Market, held on the last Saturday every month, also received a visit from The Shop Doctor with the objective of identifying routes to further enhance footfall to this popular and very friendly event.
Each of the 17 stalls active on the day were reviewed, as was the way in which the market as a whole engaged with customers.
Part-funded by the EU ERDF programme, ‘Revitalising Tourism Retail’ is based on a highly successful pilot provided last year by East Lothian Council. The programme is once again being delivered by Let’s Talk Shop Ltd.
Independent retailers in North Berwick, Dunbar, Haddington, Gullane and East Linton have enrolled for the programme which commences on the evening of Tuesday 26th August with a masterclass looking at the challenges facing the retail sector.
In addition to the masterclass, each participating retailer will benefit from a one-to-one advisory visit from The Shop Doctor that will be supported by a comprehensive Recommendations Report identifying opportunities to help enhance retail vitality.
For more information visit the East Lothian Council website
As part of the programme, The Shop Doctor will also be visiting Haddington Farmers’ Market on Saturday 30th August. The subsequent Recommendations Report will provide pointers to help individual stallholders refresh their offering and identify routes to enhance the market as a whole.
The recent Let’s Talk Shop programme in Wigtown revealed far more retail depth within many of the businesses than was expected from first impressions.
From bookshops that are cafes – to cafes that sell books; gift shops with galleries to an engravers selling gifts – and all within a town setting enhanced by the very attractive and imposing County Building overlooking a well tended central pocket park set between the two main streets.
As Scotland’s National Book Town there may not be quite as many book shops as there once were but there is little doubt that the town offers a wealth of intriguing independent an knowledgeable businesses where books undoubtedly dominate the retail offer.
Shop Doctor Recommendations Reports have been provided for each of the eight participating businesses and it is hoped that implementation of just some of the recommendations will help to make visiting the businesses, and the town, an even more engaging experience.