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General => General discussion => Topic started by: RandomJord on 02 September 2012, 19:25

Title: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: RandomJord on 02 September 2012, 19:25
Hello.

I'm pretty sure someone on here owned a newsagent or ran one or something an i need some advice.

I've had a thought of open a sort of newsagent/convenience store hybrid in the village i live in. There was until last year a dedicated shop/post office. my understanding is this closed down after the guy lost the post office part of the business and couldnt afford the rent an bills on the shop, its since been turned into offices.

I've found a way around that part of it but what im really struggling to find is any figures for suppliers for papers/usual little shop sh!t and the like. Does anyone have a membership to a wholesaler an could help me out with figures? or does anyone deal with smith/menzies an the like?

Cheers!

Jordan

Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: R32UK on 03 September 2012, 08:53
I know a man who does. Im pretty sure most wholesalers would speak to you if you went out to visit them or took time to make a call.
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: RandomJord on 03 September 2012, 10:35
I know a man who does. Im pretty sure most wholesalers would speak to you if you went out to visit them or took time to make a call.

Already called the 3 ones local....."are you a member?" ...."no" ...."bye"
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: R32UK on 03 September 2012, 13:15
I know a man who does. Im pretty sure most wholesalers would speak to you if you went out to visit them or took time to make a call.

Already called the 3 ones local....."are you a member?" ...."no" ...."bye"

Speak to the manager first. If you tell them you are looking to become a member they will probably bite your arm off....  :wink:

If its just simple information you want then contact one of the larger groups, costcutter, londis etc etc im sure they will send you out an already made pack
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Guy on 03 September 2012, 13:18
when i was 10 I used to live in a village shop.. very handy for nicking sweets and getting all the panini football stickerzz..  :evil:

mother used to get all the supplies from a wholesaler place.. and the papers i think were from menzies on a SoR basis.

long, long hours and very early starts.
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: T_J_G on 03 September 2012, 19:10
Menzies and or NIDL (News international)
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: The Mighty Elvi on 03 September 2012, 21:43
Firstly I would canvas the locals as to what they want.

Is there a Tesco nearby etc...Depends on how much work you wan't to throw at the shop.  You could go independent and buy everything from Costco ( I have head office contacts  :wink:) and spend ages on Costs/profit calculations versus competitors.

This could be a benefit for the TESCNO brigade, local shop for local people business, maybe bring in some local suppliers/producers. Free range eggs, store baked speciality bread etc.. What would Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall do?

This is then contrasted with the Costcutter franchise model, for example.  A lot less hassle for you, but you pay them a fixed % of Turnover as a fee and have to buy all your stock from them. You could just employ staff and let them carry on without your day to day involvement.


Swings, and roundabouts Jord.


Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Jack3559 on 06 September 2012, 23:54
I was a shopkeeper until March.

This was it the day it closed down:

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/527183_202469199863916_872623168_n.jpg)

We moved out a month after that.

Our general stuff; bin bags, cleaning products and the like were all from Bookers and Costco.

Other hardware stuff came from specialist wholesalers that sent reps round.
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: R32UK on 07 September 2012, 10:54
i love independent hardware stores... always have much better service that the big places. On the other hand they can be much more expensive that the big places for some stuff... and on others much cheaper!!!  :undecided:
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Jack3559 on 08 September 2012, 01:18
Yeah, that's exactly the way it was.

The branded stuff was harder to sell cheaper because you could only buy it in smaller orders.

The main thing though was that we could sell screws, bolts and nails individually, rather than buying a big bag, people could peruse the wares and come away with 24p worth just to put together a bird table or whatever.

Our biggest seller was bird seed. We were cheaper than the branded places and the retired community absolutely loved the shít.
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: RandomJord on 08 September 2012, 02:09
Such a shame so many are closing, theres an independant in the town near me, recommended after screw fix, homebase an all the usual suspects failed when all I needed was some screws for my camper roof (remember I only had the one left!)

It was awesome, walked in there an it was like an awesome den of man stuff!

Spoke to the bloke of about 709years old on the counter, showed him the screw, he turned round, bang on the counter, 7p each!

Legend
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Guy on 08 September 2012, 10:07
Yeah, that's exactly the way it was.

The branded stuff was harder to sell cheaper because you could only buy it in smaller orders.

The main thing though was that we could sell screws, bolts and nails individually, rather than buying a big bag, people could peruse the wares and come away with 24p worth just to put together a bird table or whatever.

Our biggest seller was bird seed. We were cheaper than the branded places and the retired community absolutely loved the shít.

maybe you should have changed into a bird food store?
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Ant1981 on 08 September 2012, 10:22
Anyone remember the newsagent sketch on Little Britain?  :grin:
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Jack3559 on 08 September 2012, 12:46
maybe you should have changed into a bird food store?

That's what the new owners have done and the results are less than amazing.

Although we were selling a lot of bird food and pet stuff in general it wasn't enough on its own to cover wages, mortgage, heating, fees, buying... etc.
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Guy on 10 September 2012, 13:15
maybe you should have changed into a bird food store?

That's what the new owners have done and the results are less than amazing.

Although we were selling a lot of bird food and pet stuff in general it wasn't enough on its own to cover wages, mortgage, heating, fees, buying... etc.

you think they'll go out of business soon?
Title: Re: Anyone a Newsagent or shopo keapero?
Post by: Jack3559 on 10 September 2012, 14:29
It's hard to say really. They've done something entirely different with the building.

They've split the house into two flats and are selling/renting both.

They've also split the shop and the warehouse into three shops and a workshop which are also being rented out apart from their pet shop.

They've already got a couple of businesses so I think this will mainly be a hobby for them.