On the 1st July, our beloved showroom is going to be shown some TLC with a refit. We will close our doors for just under 2 weeks from 1st July and plan to re-open on Saturday 13th July.
What are the goals of the refit?
The retail landscape has changed significantly since we last had a refit more than 35 years ago so we are long overdue an update. We know that consumers have more choice than ever before with the advancement of Internet shopping. We also know that with Internet shopping being so accessible and convenient, to attract customers into our physical store we need to offer them an experience that they won’t otherwise get online.
We consider ourselves fortunate in that the age and beauty of our building and our history already offers a unique in-store experience but we want to enhance that. We will be able to offer our customers more with comfortable, luxurious soft-seating, a hospitality area for refreshments and more information on display about our additional services such as the workshop upstairs.
Are you changing anything about the original features of the building – e.g the Beams?
Absolutely not – we love the charm of our wonky beams and floors and so they won’t be changing! Our building is also Grade II Listed so we are limited in what we can do to the building itself. The changes are purely internal and cosmetic.
The design brief we gave to the contractors who will be doing the works was that we wanted to ensure that any updates were sympathetic to the age and the charm of our tudor building. We looked over many designs and we were delighted with the one that we have chosen as we felt it helped preserve the historical characteristics of the building.
Will I be able to drop off or collect any repairs while the store is closed?
We will be calling all of our customers who currently have repairs with us and asking them to collect completed repairs prior to our closure on 1st July as we will be unable to allow customers to enter the store due to health and safety.
The only part of our business that will be operational during the refit is online so we will still be able to take enquiries over the telephone and fulfil online orders.
What else will be happening while the store is closed?
There will be plenty going on behind the scenes. In addition to answering the phones and fulfilling any online orders, we will be having a huge spring clean and declutter of our back offices. We have many decades worth of old display material, old boxes and paperwork which we will clear out to make way for new displays.
We also have found many old artefacts from our history including some wonderful photos of the shop over the years. We plan to put a larger selection of these on display in the shop to be able to share more of our unique history with our customers.
When will the shop re-open and will there be a launch event?
We plan to re-open our doors again on Saturday 13th July.
This won’t be the official launch date though as we will be finding our feet with the new layout of the shop and the new homes for all of our jewellery pieces.
We will be having the official launch party on the evening of Thursday 19th September and have an exciting celebrity booked to come and speak to everyone and cut the ribbon! More information coming soon on this but it will involve chocolates and champagne!
What improvements can customers expect from the refit?
We are keeping all of the existing wooden cabinets in the windows but they will be painted cream to lighten the shop as much as possible. New serving and display cabinets will then be brought into the shop along with new chairs. The serving areas will allow for more privacy for customers. There will be also be a new bar area by the fireplace where we can serve refreshments. The new colour scheme and design layout are on display in the store now if you’d like to have a browse.
The emphasis of the refit is to offer more of a personalised customer experience where customers will have more privacy. Our sales assistants can sit with them and not have to leave them to make enquiries as all the information will be at their fingertips with ipads at each serving station.
How will you keep customers informed during the refit?
Follow our social media channels – Instagram and Facebook where we will be showing lots of photos and videos as the refit takes shape. We will also send out weekly updates via email to keep everyone informed.
We hope you love our new look – we are all very excited for the big relaunch in July!