I’m an independent retailer, publisher and founder based at More Than Just a Gift in Leicestershire. I have been a shopkeeper for over 30 years. I am founder of greeting card publisher Petimo as well as The Shopkeeper Journal.
Small Shop Summer
One of the saddest things about modern life is that we are slowly losing the art of wandering. Not travelling with purpose. Not rushing around ticking errands off a list. Not searching online for a specific thing we already know we want. Wandering. The slow, slightly aimless experience of moving
greetings cards
“And I only came in for a card!” It’s one of the most common phrases we hear in our shop and honestly, we love hearing it. Because experienced shopkeepers know something many people outside retail don’t. Cards are very rarely just cards. The humble greeting card quietly does
Smart Shopkeeper Club
I was never good at maths. In fact, I'd go further than that. I hated it. I seemed to have an almost allergic reaction to maths lessons at school. The moment numbers appeared, my brain switched off. Nothing about them interested me whatsoever. I wanted to make things.
Smart Shopkeeper Club
I've noticed a trend on Instagram lately. Perhaps you have too. Independent retailers sharing the reality behind the scenes. The rent. The wages. The VAT. The utilities. The card machine fees. The website costs. The software subscriptions. The insurance. The music licence. The endless list of expenses that
High Streets
Famously, Britain was once described as “a nation of shopkeepers.” It’s one of those phrases that sounds slightly old-fashioned now, almost nostalgic. But I think there was something important inside it. Because Britain was not built on giant corporations or vast retail parks. It was built on market
Smart Shopkeeper Club
A funny thing happens when you put something on the internet. Someone will always find a typo. I love writing. I love words. I appreciate grammar. But social media has taught me that some people seem to take particular delight in pointing out mistakes. Put a typo online and somebody
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
I think many independent retailers are carrying around an impossible idea in their heads. The idea that somewhere out there exists a “perfect” shopkeeper. Someone who: always buys perfectly, always gets the stock levels right, always knows exactly what customers want, always feels organised, always keeps on top of everything,
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
I think curiosity may be one of the most underrated business skills an independent retailer can develop. Not relentless positivity. Not forced confidence. Not pretending everything is fine when it clearly is not. Just curiosity. Because curiosity creates movement. Shame usually does the opposite. Shame narrows people. Makes them defensive.
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
I think many shopkeepers carry around far more shame than anybody realises. Not just about money or figures, but about the feeling that they should somehow already know how to do everything perfectly. How to buy perfectly. Merchandise perfectly. Market perfectly. Manage staff perfectly. Control stock perfectly. Forecast perfectly. Grow
One of the biggest shifts in my own thinking over the years has been realising that a shop is not static. It is constantly communicating. Not loudly. Not dramatically. But quietly, continuously, through hundreds of small signals every single day. The challenge is learning how to notice them. Customers are
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
There is a strange tendency in business to assume that if something sounds complicated, it must also be intelligent. The more jargon involved. The more layers in the system. The more cells in the spreadsheet. The more “advanced” it appears. And yet, after decades in independent retail, I have increasingly
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
A Different Kind of Retail Strategy There is no shortage of advice for independent retailers. Everywhere you look, there are systems, formulas, growth plans, productivity hacks and people promising certainty in an industry that often feels anything but certain. And while some of that advice can absolutely be useful, I