I write to add my name to the growing list of independent retailers saddened and disappointed at the loss of the Take Home Blueprint Scheme.
As a relative newcomer to retail, and after reading about the successes of other retailers who had received support from Blueprint through publications such as yours, I decided to give them a call.
The Blueprint team were very quick to visit my store and offered me unbiased non-preferential advice to ensure I was offering and indeed getting the best from my off-licence section.
Further to this, to celebrate our store relaunch we went on to host a very successful wine tasting evening, which without the support of the Blueprint, would not have taken place.
The tastings and the in-store support have, without a shadow of a doubt, enabled us, as they have many other retailers, to make our off-licence one of the profitable areas of the business. But now I am concerned about what we are going to do next.
Perhaps those who have made this decision in these tough economic times all think that this is an easy budget to cut.
But I would like to assure them that I know we will inevitably see a reduction in spend if we take our eye off this ever-changing sector of the market.
Perhaps the money spent on the endless phone calls from call centres just to check which lines we stock, or the tirade of point-of-sale material that ends up costing the retailer money to dispose of, could be better spent in keeping the Blueprint team out on the shop floors. They need to be spending time talking to retailers, understanding the changing trends and acting as the invaluable link for the independent retail sector, especially when we consider the growing threat from bargain supermarket booze.
Has anybody asked if their marketing support and, indeed, no doubt huge budget, has been cut?
Dan Cock, Premier Whitstone Stores, Devon
As a relative newcomer to retail, and after reading about the successes of other retailers who had received support from Blueprint through publications such as yours, I decided to give them a call.
The Blueprint team were very quick to visit my store and offered me unbiased non-preferential advice to ensure I was offering and indeed getting the best from my off-licence section.
Further to this, to celebrate our store relaunch we went on to host a very successful wine tasting evening, which without the support of the Blueprint, would not have taken place.
The tastings and the in-store support have, without a shadow of a doubt, enabled us, as they have many other retailers, to make our off-licence one of the profitable areas of the business. But now I am concerned about what we are going to do next.
Perhaps those who have made this decision in these tough economic times all think that this is an easy budget to cut.
But I would like to assure them that I know we will inevitably see a reduction in spend if we take our eye off this ever-changing sector of the market.
Perhaps the money spent on the endless phone calls from call centres just to check which lines we stock, or the tirade of point-of-sale material that ends up costing the retailer money to dispose of, could be better spent in keeping the Blueprint team out on the shop floors. They need to be spending time talking to retailers, understanding the changing trends and acting as the invaluable link for the independent retail sector, especially when we consider the growing threat from bargain supermarket booze.
Has anybody asked if their marketing support and, indeed, no doubt huge budget, has been cut?
Dan Cock, Premier Whitstone Stores, Devon
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