Craft Focus - Page number 87 - June/July 2021 (Issue 85)

87 RETAILER INTERVIEW new, through what was truly an unprecedented time. Now shops have reopened, what are your feelings/plans going forward? Having the shop reopen for us is exciting, it gives us the opportunity to do a few things that we had initially planned to do pre Covid-19. We’re currently in the process of giving the shop a bit of a facelift and a fresh new layout. Adding more products lines for our customers and refreshing both the inside and out. This is a big year for us and it ties in with our 30 th birthday on 19 th May. It’s a huge achievement to reach this milestone and we intend to celebrate it as much as we can. Do you visit any trade shows? If so, which ones and why? What other ways do you source products for your store? Yes, I miss visiting the trade shows, as this was a great opportunity to find new products from smaller companies. Prior to Covid-19, we’d visit shows like Toy Fair, Spring Fair and sometimes the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany. However, with the current restrictions, we’ve worked hard with our suppliers to move to Zoom presentations and workshops for new products and keep up to date with magazines like Craft Focus , to ensure that we’re always in the loop. Describe your product offering. How has your product offering changed over the years? Have you seen trends come and go? Like with anything, as a business you need to change with the times and adapt. When the business started in 1991, it stocked predominantly art-based products, however over time this has expanded into craft, cardmaking and more. As we moved to bigger premises, we were able to expand our product range and this is where we have had the opportunity to expand into garden and grow that range. This really helped us become the one-stop-shop we’ve become today. We pride ourselves on having something for absolutely everyone with the same local art store feel that we started with back in 1991. With all crafts, generally they have a turnaround cycle. For example, last year there was a huge interest for yarn, candle making and puzzles. The more we grow as a business the more we recognise and see the signs that things are in their peak and are confident in knowing when we might just see interest coming back in a few years’ time. What are your current bestsellers? That’s a hard question! Especially due to multi-channels, trends, advertising but our current top three lines are: All Media Art Set by Royal and Langnickel; Candle Making Kit by House of Crafts; and Pigma Micron Pen Set. Are you active on social media? How is this useful for the business? Social plays a large role for any business, it’s a quick way to get information and product out to your current as well as new. Our tagline for years has been ‘Be Creative Daily’ and we feel that social media really helps us achieve this. The platforms that we use are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Do you have any tips for people looking to start their own retail venture? Have a plan of what it is that you want to do, with a timeline. Timelines are vital, otherwise, all you have is just a dream. Don’t be afraid to go with your gut. It can be hard making decisions, but sometimes you have to just go with what instinctively feels right. Try to be versatile, sometimes we spend too much time making a decision. In business, you must be prepared to move the goal post fast and move with the trends if necessary. What brands do you currently stock? Do you also have your own branded products and how did you go about creating these? We have more than 10,000 different product lines, from major brands such as Daler Rowney, Winsor & Newton, Caran D’Arche, Snazaroo, John Adams, University Games and many more. We do sell our own branded products and this was such an exciting chapter for us. The first thing was to work out what it was we wanted to sell and who the market was. Especially in Art and Crafts, there may be a subgroup within your niche. The next step was to speak to our current suppliers that create own brands for others and see where we could go from there. Ultimately for us, we wanted ensure that the quality was exactly right for what our customers would need. After all, they do deserve the very best. CRAFTY ARTS, Creative House, Bryant Avenue, Romford, Essex RM3 0AP www.craftyarts.co.uk