A few years ago, I was exhibiting Petimo at a trade show when I got chatting to a buyer. After a friendly introduction and a quick overview of the cards, I asked what I thought was a perfectly ordinary question. "Do you have a shop?" The reaction caught
Smart Shopkeeper Club
Summer has a way of creeping up on us in retail. One minute you’re polishing off your Easter eggs… The next, the weather’s turned, the kids are off, and the town’s full of flip flops and out-of-office replies. The routine vanishes. The energy shifts. And
bbc
I joined Ben Jackson live in the BBC Radio Leicester studio to talk about the growing impact of retail theft and the reality of how it affects independent shops behind the scenes. Retail theft is often discussed purely in financial terms, but the reality for small shopkeepers is far more
Smart Shopkeeper Club
After our most successful April to date at More Than Just a Gift, PG Buzz featured the story behind the growth and how it ultimately led to the creation of Smart Shopkeepers Club. The article explored something I feel very strongly about: success in independent retail rarely comes from one
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
People love to say Taylor Swift is successful because she’s a perfectionist. But I think they’ve got it all wrong. Her real superpower? Action. Here's what shopkeepers can learn from the way she works and why I’m taking a leaf out of her book as
Shopkeeping
Letter to My Younger Self: From the Front Room to a Dream Realised Dear 16-year-old me, It’s 1992, and you’re standing in the front rooms of our family home, behind the brand new counter. We’ve just opened an art and antiques gallery, shop and cafe.
Smart Shopkeeper Strategy
Why great shopkeepers are actually modern-day archaeologists People think archaeology has nothing to do with retail - but they’re wrong. Being a shopkeeper might not sound like detective work - but it is. We’re constantly gathering clues, watching behaviour, interpreting signals, and trying to piece together what our customers
Smart Shopkeeper Club
There’s a lot of noise in the small business world right now - and not all of it feels like it’s for us. This manifesto is part love letter and part battle cry for the real shopkeepers. The ones who show up, who do the work, who serve their
Smart Shopkeeper Club
PG Buzz featured our Female Founders Month campaign as a standout example of how independent retailers can lead with both purpose and creativity, which was incredibly lovely to see. What made the feature particularly meaningful to me was that it focused entirely on the initiative we created and ran ourselves