I am planning on opening a small shop in Newbury (Possibly the Kennet centre) but want it to be a bit different from the norm. Does anyone have any ideas as to what they think would be a good retail experience? I have thought of many ideas myself, from a sweet shop, coffee shop, baguette bar etc to a hardware store or mens clothing outlet but I really want to do something unique, that Newbury needs and doesn't already have in abundance..... Please help.
Is the Kennet Centre the right place to start something new. You will have to be sure of selling something that brings in a huge profit to cover rent etc.,
With the Cornish Pastie shop paying 93k per annum rent in Northbrook St.[alledgedly] and other shops nearby pulling out,is it no wonder that shrewd businesses avoid Newbury?
Good luck with your new venture. Clothing might not be a good idea, I hear the Animal store on Northbrook Street will also be closing in a couple of months.
I guess the up side is that you ought to be able to get a generous rent free period in a local shopping centre...
Newbury has plenty of baguette shops - so I'd avoid that idea.
However, it has virtually no foodie shops - in the past such shops have failed, possibly because of poor locations. I would love to see a good deli or cheese shop in Northbrook St or the north end of Bart St. Can't see one working so well in the Kennet Centre.
With the Cornish Pastie shop paying 93k per annum rent in Northbrook St.[alledgedly] and other shops nearby pulling out,is it no wonder that shrewd businesses avoid Newbury?
no, thats correct. plus rates. but when you are selling something that cost pence to make for £3..........
Is the Kennet Centre the right place to start something new. You will have to be sure of selling something that brings in a huge profit to cover rent etc.,
With the Cornish Pastie shop paying 93k per annum rent in Northbrook St.[alledgedly] and other shops nearby pulling out,is it no wonder that shrewd businesses avoid Newbury?
Strange but true this .... there are quite a few examples of retailers and eating places in the Kennet Centre who do as well, or better than those elsewhere in the town centre and with much lower overheads.
What about selling ready meals? Good quality but competitively priced food that people can take home and heat up. I've no idea whether it's possible to compete with the supermarkets but might be worth investigating. Might work as part of a deli? Eg http://www.harpersfood.co.uk/browns-shop.htm
Incidentally, I've often thought that Newbury could do with a decent whole food restaurant. I'm not a vegetarian but this used to be good: http://www.cranks.co.uk/
(Sits back and waits for the inevitable 'there are plenty of cranks already in Newbury' post)
Anyway, definitely food. Or electrical spares/accessories so we don't have to drive to Basingstoke to visit http://www.maplin.co.uk. Or maybe a combined deli and electronics shop which also sells anoraks.
I feel a Wallpaper shop plus other interior bits and pieces is required in the town shopping area, instead of relying on HB & B & Q..which in all honesty covers a very limited choice!But as others have said..you will need a very large turnover with big profit margins, which may be a problem when competing with the aforementioned!
I would like to see an ice cream parlour which has of course a Mr Softee in the doorway but also has display fridges with loads of different and tasty ice creams which can be sold in small dishes which customers can enjoy the contents of at a low swivel seat bar. Loads o'toppings and fancy things. Don't bother with coffee, not part of an ice cream parlour and also, people take too long to drink it. Ice cream sundaes instead with perhaps milk shakes. Get em in take their cash and get them out.
If I was younger, I'd have a go, I can speak Italian.....
What about selling ready meals? Good quality but competitively priced food that people can take home and heat up. I've no idea whether it's possible to compete with the supermarkets but might be worth investigating. Might work as part of a deli? Eg http://www.harpersfood.co.uk/browns-shop.htm
Interesting idea - went to a place in Battle that does this, and was expanding; could be worth a shot. Had a look online to find what they were called - Cook. Seem to be expanding very quickly http://www.cookfood.net/shops - there's a market for this sort of stuff!
Incidentally, I've often thought that Newbury could do with a decent whole food restaurant. I'm not a vegetarian but this used to be good: http://www.cranks.co.uk/
I've always struggled to work out what whole food is. I always eat the lot anyway.
What about selling ready meals? Good quality but competitively priced food that people can take home and heat up. I've no idea whether it's possible to compete with the supermarkets but might be worth investigating. Might work as part of a deli? Eg http://www.harpersfood.co.uk/browns-shop.htm
Ready meals & a deli combined? Appealing to either end of the food buying public....
Most of the proposals on here are for shops that will end up being in direct competition with the supermarkets, even the take away food shops. We had an electrical gadget shop in Newbury at one time, (Radio Shack) I think it was where Natures Corner is now. It didn't do too well but was handy for the odd resistor or capacitor but now that you can get such items on the internet for pence, any new shop would be flogging a dead horse. I'm sorry, but in town, you have to do something that is unique, like the Cornish Pasty shop has done. Clothes, take away meals, coffee, greengrocers and butchers. I don't think so folks.
Most of the proposals on here are for shops that will end up being in direct competition with the supermarkets, even the take away food shops. We had an electrical gadget shop in Newbury at one time, (Radio Shack) I think it was where Natures Corner is now. It didn't do too well but was handy for the odd resistor or capacitor but now that you can get such items on the internet for pence, any new shop would be flogging a dead horse. I'm sorry, but in town, you have to do something that is unique, like the Cornish Pasty shop has done. Clothes, take away meals, coffee, greengrocers and butchers. I don't think so folks.
The frozen meals format as per Cook seems incredibly successful - 32 shops of their own after ten years and now franchising, wish I'd thought of that one. Of course the whole point is that the meals are far better than those available in the supermarkets - delicatessan ready meals. An affluent area like West Berks should be able to support a franchise.
Almost all of my expenditure in Newbury is on fuel, food and drink - all products that there will always be a demand for. Clothes, gadgets, books, etc - occasional and often online purchases - if someone wants my cash then stick with consumables.
So how about a filling station committed to undercutting the others!
We had an electrical gadget shop in Newbury at one time, (Radio Shack) I think it was where Natures Corner is now. It didn't do too well but was handy for the odd resistor or capacitor but now that you can get such items on the internet for pence, any new shop would be flogging a dead horse.
I would rather look feel and see what i am buying. Buy this type of product from the web and you get what they decide to send you and not what you want.
I doubt one could survive now. Amazon has all but destroyed that market along with others. They margins are so incredibly tiny that no one can compete with them.
I doubt one could survive now. Amazon has all but destroyed that market along with others. They margins are so incredibly tiny that no one can compete with them.
Exactly, but I believe this is true of a number of things in retail, these days.
Real? What isn't real about the ELC? and the wooden toy place in the Kennet Centre? The other Kennet Centre place is a bit lacking. You could also include the wargamming shop on Bart street....
There is also a known habit of looking online and then going to the shop to try and buy.
There are certain things I wouldn't buy online. Shoes/boots for example. And you are correct. I've just invested in a new SLR camera. I looked online then popped to Jessops to buy it.
Plenty of ideas for you here, Don. Sounds as though a shop which sells everything you can't buy in Newbury would go down well. Problem is, once it opened...
Better play safe and open yet another clothes or shoe shop. Or maybe a hairdressers or a cafe selling wildly overpriced coffee and snacks?
The rent's cheaper on a market stall, of course, and a hairdresser in the market would be a first. Well, maybe not a first:
Not really. If you want something straight away, or if it's something that you may need to return easily, then the high street cannot be beaten.
I never understand why people think the internet is so great for shopping. I decided to give Amazon another go the other day after being dissapointed in the past. I ordered a game, paid a huge amount to get it delivered next day (£ and upon receipt found that it was a second hand copy in poor condition. Not great really.
Then there was Zavvi that I tried at the same time for another game. This one was a pre-order and the usual story with most online places is that they ship the goods so that you receive them on release date, only with Zavvi it took a week after the release date before I got my goods. Had I gone to a high street store I could have got what I wanted immediately.
Real? What isn't real about the ELC? and the wooden toy place in the Kennet Centre? The other Kennet Centre place is a bit lacking. You could also include the wargamming shop on Bart street....
You can't beat being able to hold the big Meccano box, or peruse boxes of Airfix kits, look at the Humbrol paint displays, and judge the Scalextrix layouts, have a go on the latest 360 or Wii games. To look at wall with everying from puppets to sledges hanging from it. Yes, you can look at these things online, but get a Hornby train set off of the shelf and give it to a kid to hold and it's a completely different experience. Dolls and doll houses, model cars, all the rest,.......you can't beat hands on for selling
£50 a year for unlimited next day deliveries at no extra cost. Get one of these for deliveries http://www.hippo-box.co.uk if necessary.
If you buy few books/DVDs/CDs a year you'll easily save the £50 on Amazon's discounts alone, not to mention avoiding Newbury's parking (and parking ticket) charges.
My recommendation: buy DVD boxed sets via Amazon (+prime) then sell them on Ebay or Amazon Market Place for close to what you originally paid and get almost-free (compared with renting) DVDs. You'll be able to find most of what you can't get on ebay at the shop which doesn't have a website here: http://barryforkin.co.uk/
Maybe Don's shop should sell Hippo boxes if they aren't already available from Forkin's?
You can't beat being able to hold the big Meccano box, or peruse boxes of Airfix kits, look at the Humbrol paint displays, and judge the Scalextrix layouts,
Threep.
You've been watching too much James May. What an excellent series that was.
Must admit I'm a bit biassed against Newbury town centre at present. Having been stung for £25 by one of Reichsführer Jones' parking SS recently I have no intention of driving anywhere near the place any time soon. I propose we all buy Hippo boxes and stay at home until Cartergrad is put on a more shopper friendly footing.
Here is a photo of Reichsführer Jones getting excited by the thought of inflicting ever increasing parking fines on hapless Newburians.
You can't beat being able to hold the big Meccano box, or peruse boxes of Airfix kits, look at the Humbrol paint displays, and judge the Scalextrix layouts, have a go on the latest 360 or Wii games. To look at wall with everying from puppets to sledges hanging from it. Yes, you can look at these things online, but get a Hornby train set off of the shelf and give it to a kid to hold and it's a completely different experience. Dolls and doll houses, model cars, all the rest,.......you can't beat hands on for selling
Threep.
Do children play with these kind of toys today then? Or it is just Dads......
I never understand why people think the internet is so great for shopping. I decided to give Amazon another go the other day after being dissapointed in the past. I ordered a game, paid a huge amount to get it delivered next day (£ and upon receipt found that it was a second hand copy in poor condition. Not great really.
You bought via Amazon, from from Amazon. Amazon has lots of third party re-sellers, many Joe Public selling stuff they no longer want. Buying this way can be a bit of a gamble.
Then there was Zavvi that I tried at the same time for another game. This one was a pre-order and the usual story with most online places is that they ship the goods so that you receive them on release date, only with Zavvi it took a week after the release date before I got my goods. Had I gone to a high street store I could have got what I wanted immediately.
Zaavi had a problem in that they were supplied by the wholesale arm of Woolies. So when Woolies went bust, Zaavi lost their major supplier....
You bought via Amazon, from from Amazon. Amazon has lots of third party re-sellers, many Joe Public selling stuff they no longer want. Buying this way can be a bit of a gamble.
Well, yes. Another reason that I wont be buying from them again. I think this type of selling is a real own-goal for Amazon. Everyone knows that's what you expect from Ebay, but when I ordered the game I didn't choose a used copy, I went with the default Amazon choice which, although wasn't dispatched by Amazon, was described as "new". If they allow people to mis-sell items effectively in their name then it doesn't take a genius to work out that they will very quickly get a bad name.
Well, yes. Another reason that I wont be buying from them again. I think this type of selling is a real own-goal for Amazon. Everyone knows that's what you expect from Ebay, but when I ordered the game I didn't choose a used copy, I went with the default Amazon choice which, although wasn't dispatched by Amazon, was described as "new". If they allow people to mis-sell items effectively in their name then it doesn't take a genius to work out that they will very quickly get a bad name.
My daughter had one of these the other day from Amazon's "Jersey fulfillment partner". It arrived dirty and with disks missing. I don't like Amazon to be honest. They have dubious employment practices and they have very nearly a monopoly. That said, I do think that they provide a pretty good service. In general, if you buy from one of the small businesses on eBay, as opposed to some ned selling off his used junk, you are very likely to get a better service than you would from Amazon.
In that case kids with games consoles are very well catered for in Newbury. Not so good for a toy shop though.
My son loves the one in the KC. OK, it's not huge but the service is good and they have a small range of Airfix & soldiers which means I get dragged in every visit to town.
In that case kids with games consoles are very well catered for in Newbury. Not so good for a toy shop though.
Yeah, but all types of toys under one roof can be no bad thing. Get 'em to go in to try "Winnie the Poohs Rumbly Tumbly" adventure on a console, and I'll just bet they stay look at other stuff as well...it does no harm to fire young people's imaginations rather just compartmentalising them...
You're not suggesting that if there is a 'Thortons' in a town, then no other shops need to sell chocolates?
Yeah, but all types of toys under one roof can be no bad thing. Get 'em to go in to try "Winnie the Poohs Rumbly Tumbly" adventure on a console, and I'll just bet they stay look at other stuff as well...it does no harm to fire young people's imaginations rather just compartmentalising them...
You're not suggesting that if there is a 'Thortons' in a town, then no other shops need to sell chocolates?
Threep.
Not at all -
I was just responding to your wish for a proper toy shop when the town is already well catered in this area. Not all under one roof, but do we want a Toys r Us ?
My suggestion was for a proper Toy Shop. No more, no less. Something akin to Beatties would be nice. You don't have to go to the soul-less extremes of Toys'R'Us warehouses.
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and upon receipt found that it was a second hand copy in poor condition. Not great really. 
