Season 5 Episode 5: Comp Shop, not Copy Shop! We talk about why it's essential for staying inspired, spotting trends, and growing creatively in retail

Hello and welcome to Buying and Beyond, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of retail buying. We're Kate and Linz and together we have over 30 years experience in retail. We're talking all things retail buying and beyond with real people in retail. This season we're joined by more guests, retail buyers, retail businesses, big and small, telling us their stories, how they got started and what inspires and excites them about retail. We lift the lid on what brands need and buyers expect. So grab your drink of choice and come and have a giggle with us. So hi, Lindsay. Hi, Katie. Today we are just by ourselves. We have been joined by so many guests recently, which has been so wonderful, so interesting and so insightful with a whistle stop tour around a wide range of retailers with Rosie last week, an incredible and impactful sustainable business story with Ali and Anna Campbell-Jones. We had the real rawness of buying with Shani and some answers to some of our niggling questions from Life of a Buyer. So it's been a busy season so far. But in today's episode, we are going to look at what's currently going on. So what trends are we loving at the moment or not so much from our pop to the shops the other week? We're looking at the status of retail. So any new store openings, any pipeline plans or any cautionary tales to talk about. And we can't not talk about our first networking event that we held this month because communication, collaboration and community are all at the heart of why we set this up and it's what our business is all about. So. Before we get into it, I think we should just clarify what a comp shop is. So like a competitor shop, a comparative shop. You're basically benchmarking where you sit compared to others in the retail space. Yes. It is not, as I have heard, it being called a copy shop. You are not going out there. to be like, oh, that's nice, I like that, I'm gonna do that. It's definitely something like, so for instance, when we went out this week, we were looking at all areas, we? We were looking at fashion, we were looking at home, we were looking at stationery. We were looking at a broad number of sort of different product areas. We weren't focusing on anything in particular, because it's not about. Oh, look at that dress. We should do that dress in that shape, in that style. It's going, oh, that dress is really cool. Love the way they've used those colors and they love the way they've used that fabric. That fabric could be really interesting. I wonder if there's a way of using a fabric like that or is there a way of doing a technique where we could get something like that fabric and make it into a bag in a completely different product category? Or are you like that staple color? I think that stapler colour could look really nice on a pair of trousers. Exactly. It's like being inspired by something. Inspired by colour, inspired by material, inspired by fabric, inspired by shape. Inspired by a story, like, oh, they're doing a gingerbread theme. I love how they've got all the different colours there. Oh, that makes me think of sweets and smarties. Do you know what? We should do something on retro sweets or... Oh, they've got gingerbread theme there. That makes me think of other nursery rhymes. Oh, do you know what could be really cool? We could do a little red riding hood theme and we could really do a lot of red. What did you say? Humpty Dumpty? But you could you just like, it just like it evokes a thought process and creativity in you that doesn't mean I have to do the same. Yes, there's definite elements where you pick up on patterns and you can be like, oh, there's a lot of palm trees around and therefore pineapples, pineapples. There's a real trend for certain things that seem to be really key. okay, either you think, okay, well, that must be big. Maybe that will still be big for next year or clearly there's a customer likes it because there's a lot of it around, it seems to be selling, people are wearing it. So do you know what, yeah, I'm gonna do some pineapples for next summer because I feel like they're a really summery motif and there's a lot of it around and I feel like maybe it'll stick and even if it doesn't, I feel like there's a customer for it. Or you see the pineapple and you go, hmm, people like fruit. Fruit print for summer. Well, if it's been the pineapple this year, then what could it be next year? And I'm going to move it on and therefore I'm going to do some fruit next year and what as part of my range, but I don't think it will be the pineapple anymore. Maybe, as I say, but maybe people will still be thinking yellow. So maybe I'll go for like a lemon. I was just going to keep the alliteration and say a pomegranate. Pomegranate. That's exotic. Who knows? Who knows? And it's all about taking that, like a bit of a flavor and then kind of putting it into your own kind of feel and vibe. And like, does that fit with your product range? And does that fit with your brand handwriting? But it's, you can do comp shops and remain authentic. And I just feel like we have to put that out there because I am sick of people either saying, don't look at what's out there. Yeah. But then I just think, yeah, stay in your own lane, but what about just seeing what other people are doing and feeling inspired by other people and championing other people? And also it's not a copy shop. Shall we move into today's episode? Let's move into today's episode. Let's go. So, should we start with trends? Let's talk about what we saw when we went out and about, what were we liking? Which stores really stood out to us and sort of colours and shapes and styles? What was it for you that really kind of sticks in your mind? So I am a big fan of, I can never say the name, it's really bugging me. I know what you're going to say. Yeah, can you say it for me, please? Sostran Green. I am loving them at the moment. I think it's probably because they've just opened a beautiful one in Edinburgh. And I just think they've got a really, really lovely handwriting branding approach. And I love that the whole thing is about store journey as well. So you have to walk around the whole store in a certain way. And it's really personalized. That is lovely apart from when you're suddenly like, like we did. Oh, rush back in. like, we didn't buy that. But actually that stuck in my mind. I really want to get that. I don't want to walk around the whole store because I know it's at the end. We like snuck back in, didn't we? Past the checkout. Don't tell us to walk the and no one's seeing us, no one's seeing us. Yeah, I love the whole Anna and Clara, you know, personalised bits and pieces. And it's just, it feels like such a warm, warming brand. like, it's kind really wholesome, doesn't Yeah, really wholesome. All the prices are like on swing tickets, like not swing tickets, but do you know what mean? Everything's sort of like handwritten. And genuinely feels like you've just walked into like someone's little boutique. It doesn't feel like a big chain store. No, no, this is it. This is it. And I think, I think they do really good job of emulating that, you know, funnily enough, like in quite a similar way in all the different stores that they have. And sometimes that can be a bit lost when it's all sort of the same thing, but actually, you're right. It's so lovely. It's done so well. And it doesn't feel like a jumble sale. Cause I think also sometimes you can find that when it's like small little bit, like little bits, like their little pickup bits. that if there isn't sort of like a structure and sort of like just really linear like shelves, I think the concern might be that your range would get lost, your items would go missing, you don't know where they're supposed to be. I mean, I have no idea what stock count is like for them because there's no like one set place where it could be, items are all over the place, but that's the fun of it as a customer. Yeah, no, I think you're right, but I do think they do. they still do kind of have some sort of structure because it's also hobby based, isn't it? Like everything that can be about people's hobbies, which is so of the moment really, isn't it? And I think they've launched in the UK at the right time, everybody is so into having a little bit of a side hustle or a side hobby. And they always pull to the front, the of the moment things. So at the moment they've got a really lovely sort of gardening range. in more of the kind of like decorative aspect. And yeah, I mean, I just love going in there for stationery and I am obsessed with their new highlighters actually, which I use. And I was just gonna say their price points that makes it even more appealing, doesn't it? Like, and actually, it's quite shocking. Because we thought we might just pop in and grab a couple of bits from like, Ryman's. Yeah, because we were just like, wow, you know, basic stationery, I'm sure that will be cheap. Nah. that makes it pricey in comparison. Like for somebody that loves it, like loves, they probably do love, but lives and breathes like stationery, you'd expect it to be maybe a little bit more competitive in pricing. But no, was like, yeah. And the colour palette, I love the colour palette in there. It's just that kind of like muted pastel tones with just lovely prints. Yeah, I think it's a brilliant brand that's come to our. It's an easy way to add colour. We are bringing a lot more colour into our lives these days. But some people I think maybe are still a little scared of adding too much colour. We've been very kind of conditioned. We've moved away from those changing room days, the kind of Lawrence Llewellyn days of... Zebra. Flare and fanciness. And I think, know, definitely when we were growing up, like my house, when I was growing up, like every different room had an assortment of different colors. You know, like the kitchen was bright green and like the study was bright yellow. And like the living room was like an, you know, an Auburn color with some aubergine and some print. And then it was almost like, if you walked in or you saw one of those houses, like then, on, you know, more recent days, if you saw a house like that on something, you'd be like, Oh, we need to do the whole thing up. Whitewash it all. Whitewash it beige, beige carpets, beige walls. And people were sort of then only really starting to put a bit of colour in with accessories. But I feel like are going braver. Wallpaper is fully back. Yeah, definitely. I moved into this place, what, four or five, five years, four or five years ago, I was dabbling because we had a blank canvas. And I was like, oh, shall we go with a bit of wallpaper? And I was too, I was, oh, I hate to say it. I was too nervous five years ago. I was like, oh no, because, oh, I'm not sure about this. It's gonna be still felt a fuddy-duddy, didn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Whereas now, if I was, if we were moving in now, I would not hesitate. would wallpaper. I'd have some lovely, prints. But no, I had loads of swatches up on the walls. and I couldn't quite bring myself to do it. And I was like, I'm just going to do color with accessories. And I think that's what Sourced and Green offers is like, you can bring your color in, but with accessories and that's where you kind of start and you can like build it from there. Yeah, I think they're a real like of the moment brand and be really, really great to watch their progress. Yeah. And I think you're right in terms of like, they've come at the right time because bringing a bit of color in and they've got the right kind of like trend and feel and the price point with that kind of being a little bit harder, maybe at the moment, people being a bit reluctant to spend too much. But they are absolutely accelerating their growth. Like, I've been really surprised. I think what they came on the scene, maybe two years ago now, two and a half years ago, we were starting to hear like, they were opening their first store in the UK. And now it's almost, I mean, I know of at least three or four towns that are having them opening up. Yeah. So exciting. So great. Good for them. Good for them. Watch this space. So yeah, they were they were a real front runner, weren't they? And what else? Who else? So obviously, it was very exciting. I don't know if people saw our stories, but we were in the iconic Topshop to see what Ikea have done in that space. That was interesting that it was opposite West-Austrian is. Yeah, exactly. Now I exciting. but it's kind of a mix of like sadness and excitement because I feeling to go back through those doors, but I do love Ikea. am a big fan of Ikea as a brand. think that they do things really well. I've mentioned this a few times and other episodes about how much I think they invest in researching their customer. I think there's really, really amazing lessons to be learned about what they do with all of that. And I've kind of always felt like a marketplace in central London would, it's just a no brainer, isn't it really? Like a Ikea marketplace where you can pick up all the bits and pieces in the market hall. You know, you can carry that home on the tube, it's fine. You're not carrying home, you know, a huge wardrobe on the tube. Could you imagine? Don't mind me down the escalator with this Billy bookcase. Never say never. Flat packed, couple of people, all under your arms. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it was quite interesting to, like we kept going down these different escalators, didn't we? were like, are these the escalators? Are these the escalators? It wasn't even a question, mate. It was every time you stood on an escalator, you were like, the iconic escalator. And then you got to the bottom and you were like, well, maybe that's the iconic escalator. Each one we got to, you were like, the iconic escalator. Oh. Maybe that's the... Anyway, so we spent most of our time in Ikea riding on the escalator. Yeah, we did, didn't we? to find the iconic. Closing our eyes and just remembering where we once were. Young girl. Shopping day. Young of memories. Stop picking up washing bowls. Not sure anyone would get that inside joke, but anyway, And then who else? I obviously, I bang on about this as well to Kate all the time. I do love what's H &M Home. are doing as well. I've been big fan of following them as they've sort of evolved and again opened new stores, different places. I think that they're sourcing from some really interesting places as well, like a lot of their tableware is from Portugal, great accessible price points, really beautiful finishes, lots of stoneware. Very luxury. Yeah, especially their store on Regent Street. It's not It's not what you think of when you think of when I think of H &M Home, I think of the area in the store that has a bit of H &M Home, which are a couple of like, you know, tag on pickup pieces, which are always like great price point and like, quite trend pieces and just yeah, lovely pieces. I'm like, oh, I'll add that on while I'm buying X, Y and Z clothes and accessories. But it was really interesting to go into that store that is solely dedicated to homewares. And actually feel like I was in really quite an upmarket, more luxury retailer. Yeah, no, I think they do it so well. They execute it so well. And again, price points are so accessible. I thought to myself, what colors are we seeing coming through? And actually, you you described a yellow in a really lovely way when we were walking around Marks and Spencer's, what did you say? Buttermilk, Buttermilk yellow? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I loved that. thought that was really interesting, like more of a, cause we've seen a lot of sunshine yellow, haven't we, coming through over the last few years, but now it's kind of becoming a bit more pastel, a more muted down, bit more sultry and green, muted pastel kind of tone. I know what you mean. It was lovely in, it was lovely in M &S. It was more of a pastel yellow. I think it was in stories and other stories where we really saw quite a large palette of it. And it was that even more sort of softer, muted tone. It didn't have that kind of punchiness of a pastel in a way. It was like really soft. Yeah, that was, think where it was. And they had it paired with a lot of that kind of like light blue. Yes, I was just gonna say the blue. It was like, it's that nice Scandinavian blue. You were looking for that in your bridesmaids dresses, weren't you? I was, yes, yes, yes, yes. Exactly, that kind of a blue. Yeah, it was beautiful. It's funny, yellow's always an interesting color, because I think it's the kind of color that most people are like, not me. Not for me. Or couldn't pull it off. But then actually you can. And I always think it looks really good on like a dark skin. Yes, agree. Because the yellow rear, like those kind of skin tones are beautiful. And I always thought, oh, never, never me. But then I always think back to how to lose a guy in 10 days. Oh, and that yellow dress that she wears. And she's blonde and fair skinned. mean, fake tanned, but she's fairly fair skinned and blonde hair and it looks stunning on her. So actually I think yellow is a colour that in the right time actually can suit a lot of people, most people, and we shouldn't be so stuck with it. And that's what I think this summer's going to teach us. Yeah, I think so too. Do you know what's interesting, and I might be wrong here, but just from what I've seen is that we've kind of transitioned out of those kind of really fluorescent bright colours like the lines and the yellows that were quite bright. like a highlighter, like you look like a highlighter, which is great for when you go skiing. You need to look like a highlighter. Yeah, I still need all those colors, but I know what you mean. Yeah. And I don't know if I've seen as much of that coming through. Again, it's come a bit more, colors become a bit more pastily, a bit more milky. Yeah, it's still bright, but it's not the fluorescent. The fluorescent one so much. know what you mean. do not. Interesting. But just on your point about H &M, when you were looking around to kind of like think about what the trends were, I was actually surprised about the lack of colour in there. But that almost made it feel like it was that kind of slightly more luxury because it wasn't necessarily about colour or colour coordinating or having this is like the blue theme and this is the red theme. It was more about the materials that they were using. Like you were saying, like beautiful. sort of like stone and beautiful marble and that, and like iron works and metal works and things. And I think that's what stood out to me most in H &M was actually, it was quite a contrast to sort of the other stores where they were kind of more, more colour focused. Yeah, that's interesting. And then that kind of like burgundy red and the rust red coming through, which is, it is a, oh, it is a colour. Obviously everything's a colour. but it's kind of not like a scary color anymore. I think it's a color that you naturally associate with winter, autumn, and actually it's really, it's actually a really lovely color to have in the summer. Cause it makes you think of kind of like the kind of terracotta, makes you think of holidays actually, when it's paired with like a white. Yes. But most often you'd see a burgundy paired with like a black, like a leather jacket and like a burgundy silk dress or something, rather than like, a little burgundy jacket with a white tee like, you know, it's funny, it? But you did mention M &S there. They were looking good. I have to say my standout product and I did actually post it because I could not leave it. Those beautiful pistachio knotted sandals. I'm still thinking of them today. I'm trying to think of an occasion that I could wear them to. You know, a lot of people comment on those, which is quite interesting. Yeah, I mean, M &S. I'm not so killing it at the moment, aren't they? I mean, obviously they've had some really hard times to deal with, but in terms of the product range that they've launched, it's just like, I know so many more people that are shopping in there now that I would never have thought would shop in there. And it's great to see them, the journey that they've been on the last few years. Yeah, and actually I don't think that, I had a slight wonder at one point whether or not they were going to alienate that kind of older customer, but I don't think, So at all, think they're doing a really good job of actually just introducing a new customer. Yeah. particularly walking through their larger stores, like I can really see that they still have something. They have something for everyone, which is super inclusive. But let's talk about M &S and what happened very quickly. Let's not dwell on it because let's face it, they probably don't want to talk about it anymore. Anytime we go into a store and they just sort of sit there, not sit there, but you know, they're standing there when you're getting served and they just look so. They still got people coming up being like, oh, could I get this in a size or, oh, could you just order? And I mean, by the time this episode goes out, which is not that long, because we are pretty much recording this at the sort of same time. Yeah. But who knows? I only hope that we can that online orders aren't paused anymore because I have put so much in my basket and I am ready and I am poised to shop. But I do feel for them. They've got people coming in and being like, could you just order? Could you order this? they're like. It's so frustrating for the sales staff, isn't it? You know? But they're not the only ones. Have you heard North Face? No. Face, they have also been- recent one. been for Attack. Yep, yep. In the last like, couple of weeks. And Cartier as well. Really? So I think if anything, it's just a bit of a like, let's... I feel like when it happened to M &S and everybody's rallied round and there have been a few people being quite like cynical of like, you how could that have happened? other people just sort of thinking like, God, I can't believe that happened. But it's not right. I feel like now there's a few more we can't treat M &S as an isolated incident. And actually, needs to be more of a warning or an alert for us all to think, okay, and I can only imagine having worked in retailers, and having been on that kind of the crisis, you know, do management side of things like everybody following an MNS, anyone in their right mind would have been thinking, okay, well, what are our contingency plans? If that situation was to happen to us, what are we going to do? But I would say if people have- The IT department has never been more- Inundated. Than ever, yeah. It's your moment. It needs to be, it needs to be, people need to be thinking, if you were shut out of your systems completely, what are you going to do? Like if you can't access any information, how are going to get hold of suppliers? if you're like, how are you going to keep that stock going? Like what is your next step? Next step. Yeah. What is your go-to plan? Your evacuation plan, for example, how are you going to make sure that you can keep your business running if something similar happened to you? And I think it's for all levels of business. Cause I don't think anybody. is untouchable because all of our information's out there and we are so reliant these days on technology and IT systems. Yeah, for sure, for sure. mean, to stock mismanagement and not knowing where anything is, that must be an absolute nightmare. You poor merchandisers out there must be tearing your hair out literally, you know. I just feel like with things like that, and you know, coupled with so many things, it's like retail can't cut a break sometimes. Because the other thing obviously we all know with the budget, and we were just talking about this the other day to somebody, weren't we? Not only is the tariff things, because let's not get into that, because genuinely, just can't even, like it's so volatile. That we'll say one thing, what this minute and in about an hour's time, probably something else will have happened. So let's not even bother wasting our breath. Because I think that unfortunately is a bit of a a moving beast, but the national insurance contribution is increasing. Now I know that isn't a hit for a lot of people, but I heard that Tesco are now considering closing some of their stores an hour early because they've been hit by such a bill of staffing costs. And because they're so big, actually it is a large proportion. And I'm not upset for me, being like, no, because I might need to pop to Tesco at five o'clock and they've closed at four, which would be frustrating because I'm not planning ahead and got kids to feed. more for for also people that work for them. 100%. But it's just going to encourage large car retailers to invest more in those, you know, what you call themselves, checkouts or look at other processes where they don't need people. It's just gonna push that further into the, do know what, makeup of a large scale business, isn't it? And we're just moving further and further away from human interaction. Which, Lindsay, it's almost as if you're reading my mind, right? Because one of my points to talk about was going to be about the self-service deals. I don't know if you know what I'm gonna say about this. You're just like- I think we just have the same opinion, don't we, really? Conveniently seguied you into that. Segui? Seguied you? So you do into that. um, Tala's first bricks and mortar store, right? Open on Carnaby street. Did we think we'd see the day? I thought they were just like an online, online, online. So that's super interesting. But what I thought was the most interesting quote out of all of it. So the fact that they've opened a store is brilliant. Like check it out. If you're in London. Um, I also thought London was an interesting choice. I don't know why in my mind, when I heard Tala had opened a store. I just went to Manchester. I just immediately thought, it must be in Manchester. I think because a lot of those kind of like quite young, up and coming brands, quite sort of smaller, but fast moving in that space. So I just assumed it. So was like, oh, London, interesting choice. But I really love that they chose London, love that they chose Carnaby Street. And for the reasons being that they didn't necessarily want to sit next to a competitor, but they wanted somewhere where their customer could just um spend time and just it to be part of their kind of like part of their day pop for some food there's lots of other shopping retail outlets there it wasn't necessarily like pinpointing themselves next to it but my point being the most interesting quote i thought was from the ceo who said we're now in the hospitality business and at first i was like oh she's so long in online she doesn't realize she said hospitality they're a shock They're not a pub. What's she talking about? Really grabbed my attention for one, that statement. And then she followed up with, if all a customer wants to do is transact, then she can do that online. So when she comes into this space, i.e. the store, we're hosting her. Yes. I love that statement because that's exactly what we've all been talking about. Experience. And exactly what you were saying, actually self checkouts versus experience. If I just want to go to a store and do it all myself, I might as well be sat on the online, right? On the online. On the online. Might as well be sat on the online. But actually on world wide web. on your Where we're moving so much to these self checkouts and we're trying to save these costs because we're being hit by a bill and therefore trying to cut down on staffing costs but we're losing that human touch which kind of felt anyway but you know a bit like oh we're getting the down is automated but I thought that exactly right you're hosting Why should someone come into a store? And actually for many retailers, and it may not be the case for all, but for many and majority that I'm aware of, actually your bricks and mortar store are more profitable. Online can often be your least profitable channel because of all your overheads, you're responsible for all the shipping, your whole delivery. The delivery is like, you know, there's all the technology that you need to invest in it, the high res images, the moving content. like people, the people behind it, you still need people to do things, they're just hidden, they're just not necessarily customer facing. So it was it's an interesting one, isn't it? It's really, really interesting. And I think that it will say opens up that a lot of brands are doing like pop ups, aren't they? They don't want, they aren't really investing in like long term leases. So a lot of these brands are doing like, yeah. hospitality style event pop up spaces and they see how it goes at testing the water there. You know, before they then go out and largely invest in in buying up retail spaces or being in a long term property or, you know, I think, yeah, it's, if anything, what I've learned from the garden center industry is that it is so important to have experience in your store because people are now looking for more of a day out than to go and do go and pop into the shop to buy something because they can do that online. Yeah, it's less transactional. Yeah, I think it is it is really an interesting space now. mean, there's so many other brands doing experience stuff like Islander. don't know if heard of them, they're Scottish brand and they're doing like make your own tartan bag workshops and things like that. And there's loads of other people, aren't they, more like flower arranging style workshops in the store or like hen parties and yeah, it's just gonna, because the hospitality industry is suffering as well, isn't it? So, well, yeah, although we talked about this the other day and I said, well, not where I live. It's all we've got. It's all we do. That's all we do. Honestly, there's minimal shops and just lots of places to go and eat. and have a coffee, although someone was pointing out to me the extortionate price of a coffee these days and how much it is basically doubled in price in about a year and a half. It is so expensive. that's when I was buying us a coffee. And I always thought it was a good one to have because the margins are quite high. That's what I've always been told, like margins on a coffee, coffee beans is quite high. But actually now, apparently, mean, supply and demand, but it's not that cheap to do anymore because it's so saturated and actually it's actually quite expensive was what I heard, but I'm no coffee expert. So if anyone listening is actually a coffee, tea and coffee buyer and wants to correct me on that, then please do. But I have to say, Tala for me was a real, it's a glimmer of hope for the high street hearing that and love what you're saying about, you know, all these different experiences and workshops and things like that. But I also think it doesn't necessarily always have to be. something as organised fun as that because even us just walking down Oxford Street, there was a bubble machine outside Lush. And we were like, oh, bubbles, like five year old kids would be. And we were like, that's fun. And then we go. And we wanted to pop into Lush anyway, because they do experiences. So, we've had it four haven't we? Yeah, really good experience. and there, fresh flowers and just. the way that they bring their product to life, there's definitely parts of it where you're like, am I in a deli shop? And you're like, cool, because there's all these different kind of cuts of soap. I don't know what you're selecting from and everything's beautifully wrapped and also really sustainable. There was some, the handkerchief wrapping, wrap was great and reusable and all of that. But yeah, something as simple as a bubble machine, a little flower. turning around, got you in there, voting out, just brought me in. But yeah, it is so important, isn't it? Display, experience, authenticity, sustainability, like there's so much, there's so much, poor retailers, bloody so much to think about these days. There is, there is, but the fact that the high street might be coming back is, makes me happy. Me too, me too. makes me super, super, super, super happy. What else was I going to say? Just when we talking about stores, another one to mention, thought was just B &Q. I mean, they've got definitely a great position now, Homebase has sadly gone, but it gives them even more of the waiting, right? And they're putting more into their store experience, which I think is again, needed. Like, know, how do they make that experience? Someone that's cop shopped B &Q for quite some time now, I totally agree with you. And also as a customer, because You you go in there to buy paint and I'm just so overwhelmed by all the different paint brands. that was always, it struck me mostly when I was in there, how can they have more directional signage, point of sale for someone that doesn't really know that much about paint? But I know what color I want, I don't, do you know what mean? It was, yeah, it's a bit fearful. And I think also, you know, the DIY sector. home improvement sector is booming and you're getting more people in there that are a bit more of a, you know, novice. I don't really understand that much about this industry. So more educational signage, pause, direction around their stores would be really helpful if you're listening. If you're listening. I think what's, what's very, very interesting in that space as well is like, so I read an article by the retail director and again, like, It's just certain sayings that then really stick in your mind. And I know we've got a guest coming up actually that has a really, really good saying about continuing to approve. won't spoil, I won't have any spoilers for that. But it's certain sayings that people have that then really stick with you. And I thought being Q's retail director had a really, really interesting point when they have a number two mindset. They don't think that they're the biggest and the best. Right. They think they're number two. So how are they going to do it better? How can they always continue to improve? And they never give themselves the idea that they are number one in the sector. And I thought, yeah, you always sort of just thinking, oh, we're not quite there. We just, we're doing really well guys. You know, we've this number, you know, we're sort of like second in the market. How are we going to get better? How are we going to be the number one? Actually is a really good way to sort of stretch yourselves. Yeah. Brilliant. Love that. Very encouraging. One of the other things that also gives me a bit of hope for the high street is the news that although it's probably not so new news now, but that Topshop Topman are going to, they've confirmed that they're going to be launching a permanent or well semi permanent space on the high street. So it's not going to be online only, which obviously when Topshop ended was bought by ASOS, it disappeared from our high streets and it went online only. So it's really interesting to see that it will be returning and I'm really excited to see what it's going to be like. And I'm really, really excited to see what the customer is like. Yeah, me too. Who is it going to be appealing to? One, what's the range looking like and who are they, who do they think their customer is? But two, there's going to be so much hype about it. Who's going to be coming around the corner for it? Who's going to be making up that queue? I'm interested in that. Yeah, I think you hit nail on the head though. you know, they've not really mentioned too much about styling, like, you know, customer type, materials or anything, have they, or any kind of, you know, brand, not even put any branding out really, have they? And that, as you touch on with materials, is also a very interesting one because, yes, we want Topshop back, and I think we mentioned this, but yes, we want Topshop back, but do we want Topshop as Topshop was? No. What is modern day Topshop? And let's hope that everybody's thought- It was a very quick response there, no. We definitely don't want that. No, I think you know what I mean. Not in the state that it You can't recreate it, can you? It's like, know, when sometimes people do too many movies of the same thing and then it tends to lose its authenticity. Or going back on the same holiday because it was so great to go again. Yeah, exactly. Going back to the same place. Yeah, totally agree with all of that. But I'm also thinking from it's like just the world's moved on. And I hope that Topshop has to and it doesn't stick with fast fashion. Yes, agree. From a sustainability point of view. And actually all of its its thought process in terms of what materials they're using, how many units they're placing, that all sourcing their products from Yeah, that they've modernized in in in those ways. And we're not just bringing Topshop back. Yeah, for the over consumption that it was in the end. Right, we can't not talk about our first networking event. We've said that already. But we hosted our first networking event for buyers, created by buyers. And we did it in association with Life of a Buyer. And we had a really, really, really good response, didn't we? And an amazing response. Yeah, it was kind of a bit. reassuring and kind of really reaffirmed what we were thinking that what we needed when we, you know, started out and even much further up the chain. We needed space to sort of share ideas, share processes, ways of working, not share, offload, not share confidential information, really aware of that. But just kind of sort of I remember thinking to myself, am I going mad? Like, is this really happening? And like, what's happening elsewhere? I need to know kind of thing. Because, know, get, you get CEOs going for dinner with each other all the time. And, and they're not, again, they're not sharing confidential information. They're just sharing their experiences. Why is there not something like that for us at the slightly lower levels? You know, the people that actually are being now in lots of training meetings being turned to to say, what do you think? How should we do this? How should we deal with the situation? So we need that more than ever. And I think the ones that are going to implement it. So if there is a big idea or something that we're going to do, can you even do it? You know, like, okay, well, that business is doing it. That's great. Can you even do it? Asking the people that you know, we're the people with a faceless bias. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So yeah. We were inundated with signups, weren't we? you know, apologies to anybody that we had to put on the wait list. It's just, needed, you know, the venue, but the venue could only hold so many people. It was something that we pulled together at very, very short notice. We've been thinking, it's been something that's been in the pipeline for a long time for us. As Lindsay said, like, as we've been working our way in our careers, and we've just bitten the bullet and just thought, you know, just do it, just pick a date. And we didn't want it to be too far away because otherwise you get cold feet and you just don't do it. So we were like, no, we're doing it. Two weeks I'm gonna do it. We had the conversation with Life of a Viya who also very much supported it and agreed it's exactly what we need. But from a kind of anonymity point of view, she was unable to do anything like that herself. collaborated and put it out to everybody. So yes, it was great. We had to move the space so we could have something a little bigger. and even that wasn't big enough. And it very much was just a pilot one, getting sort of the first people to sign up just to kind of join us and talk about it. Like what do you want? What do you want to get out of this event to meet others and just sort of see how the space would work. So we're super, super excited, super motivated. We had some really good conversations, had some great feedback at the time. Would love more feedback. It's never too late to feedback. you know, drop us a message on Instagram or hello at buyingandbeyond.com or pop on our website. And yeah, pop on our website, join the wait list. Easily messageable. Messageable, that's not even a word anyway. Contactable, we're easily contactable. So definitely it's never too late. So we are looking at doing a bigger and better event. We are already scoping out another space. And we are putting a diary, putting in our diaries for around mid July. I'm hesitant to say the exact date because we obviously need to make sure that we've got everything in place and do everything that we want to manage to secure it. Yeah, we're looking at a Wednesday in mid July. So just to kind of put that out there. And if you're on the waitlist, you will hear first about it. If you've already been you will also get a message direct your inbox. So if you want to be one of the first to hear about it, then as Lindsay said, like join our waitlist, which is on our website, which is www.buyingandbeyond.co.uk. and forward slash event, or you can find it on the menu under networking event. But yeah, we've got lots of ideas. I'd love to hear a bit more from you all about it. Ultimately, I think a lot of the feedback was, if we could summarize it into kind of like one sentence would be, you the reassurance that you're not the only one going through what you're going through. So sort of like that life of a buyer feel, but it's actually in real life. So it's that connection and it's that extension of the community. And also people sharing numbers and contacts and making new friends. Like, you know, we all think the same. We all have a similar personality trait. A similar mindset. make new friends and you often share your experiences. Yeah. And we've kept it for sort of, you know, it is all levels, all was gonna say all abilities, but you know what mean? All ages, all levels, because actually we think that there isn't always necessarily the opportunity for there to be that much kind of like cross level, cross retailer collaboration. So at the moment we're keeping it open to everybody. It may be that at some point actually we get so big and there's so much that actually it does feel good to kind of like sort of do sort of targeted events. That for each kind of. sort of team or category or sort of level. But at the moment, we just want to keep it very much open and it just be a real kind of retail buying. And talking about different levels, we actually on the same day as doing our networking event, we did a talk at the FRA, the Fashion Retail, Fashion Retail Academy. Those aren't aware of the frat. Although I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't because it is a well-known name, well-known establishment. They do some brilliant courses. We were there to speak with the Level 4 Buying and Merchandising cohort, which is kind of like a short, short fast track programme for students looking to get into fashion retail buying. And we had a great time, didn't we? Yeah, we did. Taking centre stage. Yeah, exactly. had a nice little presentation of our careers and a mood board of all the things we loved in buying. it really just so nice to just talk about all the really positive things. Cause I think sometimes when you get together with other buyers, you can just like really easily go, you know, a bit too far down the negative road. But, I think I was worried a little bit about that for our event, but it wasn't like that, was it? The mixture of why you love it and what your, what your challenges are. And. So yeah, so I think it was great to talk to these students and tell them our pathways and our journeys and our experiences, but also just to make them aware of like, you know, how challenging the industry can be. out. Watch out. kind of like how, you know, I think what I took away from that day was a sort of parting message to the room was stay in contact with each other because it's all about networking, collaboration, chatting to one another. we need to open the door a bit more in this industry and hopefully that's what we're facilitating. And I think we didn't really plan to say that at the end of that talk, did we? And I think it was just an organic conversation that was leading that way. And we started this because we stayed in touch and it's helped us enormously throughout our careers. yeah, I it was quite a nice, yeah, nice organic. end to the chat, wasn't it, with those students and really kind of led nicely into the fact that we'd be doing a networking event that evening. Yeah, yeah, and getting more people to kind of to communicate because I think just to extend on that is that it is all about kind of collaboration and sharing and making those connections but where the creativity is sometimes lost and I think that was one of the things when people are talking about what they love about buying so much of it is the creativity that you have and whether that is that you are a product development buyer or a strategic branded buying. It's all about that creative thinking and how to make yourself be different. How do you stand out in a crowded kind of like retail space? But so many people maybe with all the outside things that have been happening and the outside pressures that have been coming on us and we've said it before, we don't like using this word anymore because it was overused and say the 2020s but unprecedented things that keep coming up that takes away from really kind of having the time to be creative and think about your product when you're busy thinking about your logistics and as buyers, that's not really where you want to spend your time and your thoughts. yeah. Lovely, nice lens there. which should bring us to the end because we can talk and talk. As we said, if you're really interested in joining our community, please do pop onto the website, join the wait list and we will. As soon as we have sorted the next event out, will email out to you and we're really excited to meet you. And if anybody wants to come on the podcast and share their story, we're always looking for buyers, all levels to come on. But it's your stay. And sharing about buying stories and no story is ever boring. No, definitely not. Not in retail. Great. So what have you got next week, Kate? Watch the video. So next week, it's well, Hopefully, it feels very on season, but we're going to be talking to the outdoor edit about their range. So range of accessories for outside the home. So expanding that interior space to exteriors. Yes, very exciting. Something very close to my heart. So yes, I'm very excited to chat to them. Right, guys, have a fantastic week and tune in next week to hear all about that. Right, bye. you're a product-based business, whether it's home or accessories, plant pots or jewellery, or any other product for that matter, as we have experience in over 35 product categories, then you might be interested to know that we have created a retail-ready bootcamp just for you. Are you ready to land in retail stores, scour with confidence, or finally understand what buyers really want? We've created a six-week intensive programme built for businesses and brands like yours, designed by us, two former head of buyings with over 30 years of combined experience in retail. Each week we'll run a live one hour session covering everything you need to become retail ready. We'll cover topics such as how to refine your offer to meet buyers' expectations, nailing your pricing for profit, finding the right stockists, building your go-to-market and trade strategy, leveraging relationships to grow, and how to manage orders, stock and retail partnerships like a pro, and so much more. You'll also get a one-to-one session with us for tailored brand feedback, our retail readiness toolkit to take away with you, and access to a WhatsApp group for community, collaboration and accountability. We don't just teach, we open up the floor each session for honest collaborative discussions with other ambitious businesses. So if you're tired of guessing what buyers want, this is the time to find out. Head to www.buyingandbeyond.co.uk forward slash bootcamp to join. See you there. If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, please, please, please like and subscribe and leave a review. And if you already have, thank you, thank you, thank you. We all need a bit of retail therapy and this is the perfect time for you to offload about that super cringe-worthy story. We would love to hear from you all, your funny stories and experiences or even any dilemmas and maybe we can help or at least find someone who can. And don't worry, we will keep these anonymous and remove any names and brands. We would also love to hear from you on any topics you would like us to talk about. please send all of these into buyingandbeyond at gmail.com or drop us a DM via our Instagram page at BuyingAndBeyond. Kate, are you a drama queen? No. Drama just makes things interesting. That's true. All these thoughts and opinions are our own and based on our own experiences working for a wide variety of retailers. These are all in the hope to entertain and educate and not to reflect negatively on any place we currently or have previously worked.