January Questions For Retailers

Speciality Bites with

Paul Hargreaves

Chief executive of Cotswold Fayre

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Well what a shambolic start to the year! It has not really been the weather for running a distribution business

In the first week back after what seemed a very short break all h*ll let loose.

Some shops had to close for a day or two due to no staff and others had to close due to no customers. Wholesalers like us were trying to move heaven and earth to get customer’s deliveries out with drivers battling through the snow only to arrive at the farm shop half an hour after they had shut early for the day!

I would be interested to hear from retailers how much weeks like this affect your business?

As a wholesaler, I know we lost around 30-35% of our weekly turnover compared to what we would have done weather permitting.

Clearly retailers also lose out, in some cases because they have to close, but do consumers come out and spend a bit more when they get out and about again? Presumably they have a bit more in their pockets after being stuck at home for a few days? Please let me know.

I would also be interested to hear how Christmas was for speciality food retailers this week?

Our sales in the last quarter of 2009 were 20% up on the previous year’s figures but of course we only know what has gone into the shops, not what goes through the tills.

There doesn’t seem to be masses of Christmas products listed in retailers’  50% January sales I’ve visited. Is this your experience?

The final few days before Christmas, again massively affected by the weather, were incredibly busy.

We lost a whole day’s deliveries and had to send out 28 pallets one day just to clear some of the backlog.

Customers were still ordering Christmas goods right up until the 22nd December, which suggests to me considerably more optimism than 2008, when we had quite a lot of Christmas lines left in the warehouse. This year there was virtually nothing! Great news!

Finally, an HR question…

To pay or not to pay staff who don’t make it in on ‘snow days’?

I take the view that we don’t pay those who don’t come in to work when it snows. To pay people anyway not only disincentivises staff to make the effort, but is a bit of a slap in the face for those who have braved hell and high water to get into work, albeit late.

We give staff the opportunity to make up the time by working more hours when the weather is back to normal.

Am I a harsh old so and so or is this becoming general practice? I think the last couple of working weeks will have moved others to my position?