Jennifer took over her first shop at the beginning of January this year, and she opened on her first day under the Nearby brand. With a family background in retail, Jennifer was pretty familiar with the processes involved, however she said the help and assistance from Nearby was invaluable in getting set up.
“My father, Jim has been in retail almost his whole life, between between shops and pubs and we have all gone on from there in our own way,” said Jennifer. “Originally this was my father’s shop and I helped him at the start and when the time was right this year, I decided I would take the reins. “When we joined Nearby, their store and design team visited us to help fit out the shop. We had been in discussions with them and were going to do it on our own, as we’ve done before, but after talking to Nearby, it just seemed like a good fit.’
As a Newry-based shop, Jennifer said it was an important factor for her to have Nearby on board as it is so local. “There is always someone I can get in touch with, and they they are very good at nurturing the relationship and are very easy to work with,” added Jennifer.
Jennifer said she was very appreciative towards the Nearby team, from Customer Service to Marketing and Store Design to Sales, who have all aided in the opening of the shop in early January. “To have their expert team come in and show me the correct ways of working was great,” she said. “They came in and stocked the shelves for us opening. It was all done in one day, including the till systems, and I was shown how to operate everything which was very seamless.”
One of the main positives Jennifer cited with being part of the Nearby brand is the flexibility it affords her “This flexibility enables us to remain independent whilst having the power of a strong brand behind us. Nearby’s wholesale partner, S&W Wholesale also provides us with the choice of over 8,000+ products to choose from and this is a great incentive for any retailer looking to team up with the Nearby symbol brand.”
Since opening on 2nd January, Jennifer has received lots of positive feedback from her customers. “People have been great and we have been getting great reports back. The response from customers has been good – we would have had regular faces of course, but we are also getting lots of new faces in too,” said Jennifer. “When my dad took over the shop, he renovated it and now we have updated signage with Nearby and so much more space in the shop – meaning I could reopen our in-store deli, which is important for the customers.” Originally from the Warrenpoint Road in Newry, Jennifer is all too familiar with the area and the importance of having convenience stores like hers for local residents and indeed staff from local businesses.
“My family had a shop and Post Office in Ballyholland, but of course I’ve seen that the running of a shop is completely different to just working in it,” added Jennifer. “There are naturally all the responsibilities and doing orders, but with being with Nearby they are very good at steering you in the right direction to increase store footfall and ultimately sales. “The ‘Bring Home The Value’ concept is a great footfall driver to our store. These deals change on a three-weekly basis and ensures that all customers are met with value on everyday essentials when they come into the shop.”
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