It’s been a good year so far for Fiona Fabien, director of Papyrus in Glasgow with trade up in the first quarter and the business winning The Greats Award for Independent Gift Retailer of the Year, Scotland.
First quarter report: “Trade in the first quarter of 2017 was better than expected despite Brexit. Although many of our gift companies have had to increase prices we have been delighted that many of our card suppliers haven’t followed suit. Our card sales have been up 6% in the first quarter.
Although Valentine’s sales were only slightly up on last year, we had excellent Mother’s Day trading figures this year, finishing 9% up on last year overall. I do believe this was down to a good long run up to Mother’s Day, with Valentine’s cards not having to compete for space. Likewise, a late Easter has reflected on good card sales. We just about ran out of single cards, with a few days to go, so I had to rummage around to find some old stock we keep in case of emergencies!”
The boons: “We’ve had beautiful weather this spring. The sunshine and warm temperatures brought Glaswegians out in droves and unusually for Glasgow the pavement cafes have enjoyed an early surge of customers, all helping to drive footfall up in the West End.
Byres Road, where one of our shops is based, became a Business Improvement District in 2016, and we are seeing the benefits of excellent marketing for our high street.
We are in the midst of the ‘Spring Celebration’ event with lots of family events and promotions over 10 days. We have joined in on an offer from participating businesses, offering 10% discount vouchers, which is proving very popular.
We had some unexpected good news in March that our rates payable were reduced by 25% – £24K to £18K. This will help to absorb increased costs, such as increasing Minimum Wage over the coming years and Stakeholder’s Pension contributions.”
The bugbears: “On the downside, like many retailers, we’ve had new parking restrictions, which came into effect on April 1. After a fairly quiet first week we think the customers are getting used to the new restrictions, finding places to park nearby or are willing to pay £1.20 an hour – we will have to wait to see if it’s going to have a long-term effect on footfall.”
Buying patterns: “Sales of occasion cards are still increasing, with demand for more specific occasions, ie ‘Daughter’s 21st’ or ‘Father’s 50th’. I see our suppliers are responding to this trend by offering more specific occasions in their ranges.
The Spring Seasons have always been very important to us (next to Christmas). I am hoping that the momentum will keep going; however we can’t take anything for granted. I know that as the holiday season approaches customers may well tighten their belt in view of poor exchange rates, and other financial pressures mentioned in the press.”
