In the run-up to Christmas, HousewaresNews is asking some superstars of the shop floor – aka Retail Employee finalists in the Excellence in Housewares Awards – for some tips on how best to cope with the busy weeks of festive trade, as well as some insights into plans for 2020. Lucy Richards, manager of The Kitchen Range in West Wickham is in the hot seat:
What is your best advice for coping with the busy festive sales period?
“Stay prepared and commit to early starts and late nights. We have more staff on the rota up to Christmas and open on Sunday’s for the month of December. We buy a temporary license and play festive music to keep everyone is good spirits.
“We stock up heavily on boxed items, easy pick up lines and new ceramics. We also have lots more points of display around the shop, offers such as ‘Secret Santa £10 gifts’, and memory joggers, such as: ‘Have you got your turkey baster?’”
What’s going to be important for your business in 2020?
“2020 is the year of ECO for us. Of course we have gradually stocked more lines in accordance with our eco movement in 2019, but we aim to look in to a zero-waste supermarket of sorts. We are also in the midst of planning to build a kitchen to help with our growing demand for cookery classes and super clubs.
“We are ALWAYS aiming to diversify and make use of the shop after hours.”
Top: A Christmas window at The Kitchen Range, West Wickham.
