The pride that retailer Seelan Thambirajah (above) has in his new store - located in what he believes to be a relatively untapped area of central Sheffield - is perhaps more befitting of someone opening their first.
But this is actually Seelan’s 20th store, with all run as Premier - but he still has a lot to be proud about.
Opened last Friday (28 February), the new Queen Street shop, previously an office space, spans 2,400 sq.ft. and cost £500k to refit. It’s also provided the local area with 12 new jobs, and as well as a beer cave - which many retailers are installing these days - it has a slightly smaller vape cave. But with new government legislation looming, isn’t the idea of an area of a store dedicated to vaping a bit of a risk?
Typically, Seelan doesn’t think so. “If people come in for a vape, they usually come in for a beer too. We thought we’d go for it. No one has done it before, this is the first.
“But you’ve asked a good question. And a lot of retailers also ask why I opened the a vape cave. But if it doesn’t work, it has a window on one side out on the High Street - I can just put a gelato ice cream bar in there.”
Such a flexible way of working is typical of Seelan’s pragmatic approach to convenience retail. Having been in the industry his entire life in multiple countries, he says he’s been particularly involved with this refit, even changing the floorplan a staggering 23 times to get things just right.
The early signs are good. Even only having opened last week, Seelan has already been bowled over by the response from locals. “My expectation was to do a certain amount of trade in those first few days, blah blah blah, but I’m just mind blown - sales are already 50 percent more than my expectations. This is a new experience for us.”
The new store is targeting students from the nearby university, but also sees good trade from tradesmen in the mornings and workers returning home in the evenings.
In addition to the usual things you might expect with a new store opening such as ribbon cutting, balloon arches, food samples and all the usual social media announcements, the Queen St store has also seen £26k ploughed into marketing giveaways for locals with prizes including tablets, air fryers and more up for grabs. This will be running for three months.
Another mission Seelan has is to give back to workers in the area with free morning coffees for NHS staff, doctors, nurses, builders and more. He is also in the process of putting out a leaflet to promote this to locals (pictured).
Seelan says he is also hoping the store can be one that’s catering to the next generation of shoppers. “I thought, what I can do differently - what can I do for the next generation? This is a store for them,” Seelan explains.
“We had a call from Booker saying they were amazed, they didn’t know how we’d missed this opportunity for so long…”
“We had a call from Booker and they were amazed, they didn’t know how we’ve missed this opportunity for so long. To be honest with you, we do have competition within 0.5 miles on both sides. But our customers say they’re both very expensive and there’s no real customer service. So I’m doing something different.”
That maybe something of an understatement. Watch this space…
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