Alworths plans three more stores before Christmas
alworths, the high street variety retailer founded by ex-Woolworths Head of Stores and Concessions Development Andy Latham, has marked its first birthday by announcing plans to open three more stores before Christmas.
The chain, which opened its first store in Didcot a year ago, already has 14 stores situated across England, Wales and Scotland says the new stores will open in Newark, Bellshill and Maidenhead before the end of the month.
alworths is a general retailer that meets the demand for traditional high street shopping. It stocks a great range of products at value for money prices, including branded toys, games, DVDs and a huge variety of pic ‘n’ mix. Throughout the year it offers different seasonal lines and there’s also a wide choice of stationery, cards, party accessories and gift wrap. For the home and garden, it stocks an assortment of practical and decorative products, along with haberdashery and branded household convenience purchases.
Managing Director of alworths, Andy Latham (above) says: “It’s been an extremely busy 12 months. Many people questioned opening a new retail chain during very difficult economic times, however it has proved to be a good year to launch a variety retailer into market towns. Local councils have welcomed us with open arms, as we’ve helped inject new life into many high streets where shops were shutting down. Landlords have been keen to do deals with us in order to fill the mounting number of empty shops and best of all our customers have been delighted that they can buy music, DVDs, console games, home items, pic ‘n’ mix and children’s toys all in one store, on their local high street again.”
Latham continues: “Ultimately, alworths stores are for children and families and we go out of our way to cater for these markets. If we’re missing anything, we actively encourage our customers to tell us what we should be stocking – we don’t want to stand still and we appreciate that adapting to our customers’ needs is crucial to maintaining our presence on the high street. Over the past year the stores have exceeded our expectations and we’re looking forward to trading 17 stores in the run up to Christmas, an extremely important time for us. “
Alworths’ long term strategy is to have a chain of 200 stores.
Lisa Dower, Alworths' greetings buyer outlined the retailer's category aims:
- Greetings cards and gift wrap has approx 16ft in our smaller stores and approx 24ft in our larger stores.
- alworths' Greetings Cards category is planned by our category partner UK Greetings, who also integrate Gemma International ‘s licensed children’s cards into our plan at our request. Children’s licensed product is a core part of our proposition for children across the store. We also have some standalone card spinners from Otterhouse, which give our customers a cello-wrapped offer of funky/photographic designs.
- We use Hallmark and Gemma International on wrap.
- We have just introduced the new ‘Forget me not’ range from UK Greetings into our stores. The range is perfect for alworths because the price points are lower and it also incorporates a strong kids offer, which as a family retailer is exactly what we need. We also have a real ”value” offering in each store that runs on a permanent multibuy promotion for those customers that are really looking for outstanding value.
- Average card price is £1.45, however the plan consists of six price codes below £1.
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