Trading a stone's throw away from a Tesco is not the ideal for a retailer, but Mark Canniford from Weston-super-Mare is making it work for him.
Taking on the multiples
Mention Tesco Express to Mark Canniford and you’ll instantly get his hackles up. You see, Mark has been trading just off the high street in Weston-super-Mare for 28 years. He left Londis to join SPAR in 2009 – in response to a Tesco Express opening just 500 yards away.
He says SPAR has given him the confidence to drive his business on. It’s just that Tesco Express is a thorn in his side.
“When we found we’d be up against Tesco, we felt we needed a much more recognisable trading banner – one that would help us compete with a major brand,” says Mark.
And compete he does, serving around 1,000 customers a day: “We’re actually competing very well. We’re hot on high standards and we’re strong on customer service, plus we have a better location to draw customers in.
“But trading up against Tesco can get you down. However we continue to find their weaknesses and fight back.”
When Mark switched to SPAR he also took the plunge into food to go. “We quickly went from zero to £1,000 a week on hot food, plus it gave us good margins,” he says.
Mark uses Cuisine de France together with some of his wife Estelle’s ideas. They’ve just introduced a quarter-pound burger, for example. They also do a lot of deals on food to go: “We’ve got four autumn offers which we would not be able to do without SPAR’s back-up. They’ve helped us fund leaflets to promote them.”
The hot food offers are very popular with students from Weston University Campus, and the students are very popular with Mark as their trade helps the store get through the tough winter months.
Mark admits that trading has been tough, but promotions and the SPAR brand are helping. He runs a two-tier promotional system that’s been a massive hit. He explains: “We carry all the SPAR national promotions and I purchase promotional products too. SPAR brand lines sell extremely well, especially if they’re on promotion. And even when they’re not on offer they still sell steadily. In fact, I’ve delisted some branded lines and just stock SPAR brand now.”
Rather surprisingly, Mark says cigarettes are his star performers. “I tried to be highly competitive on cigarettes and it didn’t work. So I put my prices up. I now make a 10% margin and I’m the biggest seller of cigarettes in town. I know retailers who buy flashed packs of cigarettes to try and look competitive but they’re not making any money on them.”
His latest addition is a DVD rental system from rentithere.co.uk (part of Choices). It has a touchscreen and Mark says customers love the interaction. They sign up on screen, make their selection then go to the counter to collect their film. Mark says there’s not a problem with people not returning films as anyone who does this is locked out of the system nationwide.
“We’ve only had the machine a few weeks but it’s been good for business.” And he’s used it as a basis for even more special deals – promoting family bags of crisps and packs of beer, for those ‘movie nights in’.
Retail according to Mark Canniford
Best thing about retailing: “The buzz in store when we’re really busy. I love the interaction and working in that pressurised environment.”
Best piece of advice ever received: “My grandfather said to me, 'You don’t need to be able to do everything if you surround yourself with people who can’.”
Biggest challenge: “Tesco Express!”