Tess Gee, co-founder of Manchester’s award-winning kids’ concept store Our Kid, shares honest insight into the critical early years of an independent retail business and her top tips for survival.
Laura Turner: What are the key challenges currently facing bricks and mortar kidswear independents?
Tess Gee: When it comes to running a bricks and mortar kidswear store, I think the biggest challenge is facing up to the disconnect between the dream versus reality. Or, as one sold-up indie friend of ours said, “working harder than you’ve ever worked for the least money you’ve ever earned”. I’m sure that like many we were shocked to see the likes of the FMLY Store close its physical shop and Home & Kids Shop step back from kidswear. These were trailblazing, multi-concept stores that made it look so easy. Not to mention many ecommerce retailers simply shutting up shop. It’s a reality check.
Scratch beneath the shiny, social media veneer of a typical kidswear store and you’ll find issues such as VAT thresholds, business rates and intense competition from the high street placing increased pressure on profit margins. And, like kids, these stores are so very demanding on your time.
To succeed you have to bring your brands to life, spark joy. Deliver something your customers won’t find in Next. All this takes time and huge amounts of energy. I can empathise with any independent retailer that has found the demands of this type of business too much for too little return. However, I strongly believe that with the right vision, there is still scope to run a thriving physical store.
LT: What do feel are the main pitfalls for a new independent?
TG: Probably over committing to seasonal stock and not identifying core ranges that have ‘evergreen’ potential throughout the year. We have a finite amount of space in which to merchandise and store our products and it’s made us more ruthless over the years about which labels to keep backing and which to phase out.
It’s also so tempting to focus on what other retailers are doing and think you should be following the same path. The buzz of premium brands with sky-high minimums might lead you into investing heavily in edgy collections. But before you buy, take time to get to know your customers and be realistic about what they will buy into – whether that’s price point or wearability. Some of our most directional labels have ended up being the most discounted.
LT: As an award-winning retailer, what survival tips can you share?
TG: Be realistic about what the business means to you and how it’s going to work around your own family life. One of the more unusual decisions we’ve made as a team of three mums is to close for large periods during the school holidays, especially in summer. It’s a brutal truth that you could stand in your shop for the whole of August and only see a handful of customers each day, not breaking even, whilst spending a fortune on childcare.
When working on a hyper-local level you will feel the impact of schools being closed, baby groups taking a break and a general shift in habits during the holiday period. We think it’s worth taking the hit on income to prioritise the lifestyle benefits of our business. In fact, we make it a big part of our storytelling. Remember, you are not Topshop. Flexible working applies to independent retailers just as much as it does to office workers.
LT: At what point did Our Kid ‘break the pain barrier’?
TG: I think we are still in the grip of the pain barrier when it comes to the level of reinvestment, both financially and in terms of our time to keep this business growing. While there’s definitely a sense of us entering a new phase as we reach the three-year milestone of our physical store – and six years of trading as Our Kid online – I can honestly say we have come as close as we’ve ever been to giving up this year.
LT: What’s your solution?
TG: It’s only a deep-rooted love for our brand and a sense of ‘If not this, what?’ that spurred us into sticking with Our Kid and finding the energy to just keep going. I think that’s all we can do as small businesses, just keep on going. Some of the retailers that we respect highly have demonstrated you don’t experience success during these early years; it’s seven or eight years down the line when you might hit your stride. We’re in it for the long haul.
LT: How have you found juggling a bricks and mortar store with the ecommerce website?
TG: Our website continues to offer us the greatest opportunity for growth and it is set to take a precedent in terms of focus and resource over the next 12 months. We’re in the process of reviewing the whole customer experience journey, from newsletter sign-up to packaging. No area of the website will be left untouched.
The physical store provides us with a compelling identity and leverage for online. Harnessing our unique point of difference in a massively saturated ecommerce landscape is going to be key to bringing the two sales channels in-sync from a turnover and brand identity perspective.
LT: Would you recommend incorporating a multi-functional space within a shop?
TG: Our Kid being both a shop with a café has given us huge scope for building a community that uses the space for both shopping and socialising. This combination gives us great footfall and helped to foster a deeper, emotional connection to the people who visit regularly. Without the café we would see a massive reduction in dwell time. I can’t imagine not knowing our regulars in the way we do – a real benefit of bonding over coffee.
On the flipside, the multi-functional approach means you might be running one, two or even three different businesses under one roof, which is complex. While we see the benefit of events to our bottom line, we have scaled back some of the less commercially driven collaborations in favour of retail-led, brand focussed experiences. We like to give our customers the opportunity to get to know the people behind the brands we stock. It’s a winning formula when product, personality and perhaps a cheeky gin cocktail collide.
LT: How much do you invest in marketing Our Kid?
TG: Time is our main investment. We have always worked very strategically with like-minded collaborators and brands to market the business in a progressive and unconventional way. We see enormous value in partnering with off-site events such as Pregnant Then Screwed Live. It brings together a compelling mix of influential speakers from the parenting community while we provide an aligned retail experience selling brands that convey the spirit of the festival.
I think this new mood of marketing is something that we can thank the collaborative spirit of Instagram for. We do dabble in paid social campaigns but see these more as a positioning tool rather than a sales driver.
LT: How do you ensure your store remains exciting and innovating?
TG: It’s vital that we keep our eye on emerging trends and not just in kidswear but also within the wider retail landscape. I believe that the new mood of retail is to embrace your customers’ lifestyle and understand that shoppers want to step inside a curated store that brings their Pinterest boards and Instagram feeds to life. If we’re inspired, we can convey that to our customers in the new brands we launch in-store and most importantly, love in our own lives.
LT: Do you have any tips for integrating into the local community?
TG: We’re lucky to live and operate in a very close-knit community that’s full of families. We do our best to acknowledge dates and occasions that will resonate with our customers, whether it’s a celebration of sisterhood on International Women’s Day or the gesture of a free hot drink with every purchase during our big sale events. Creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere that is inclusive and memorable is key to maintaining our positive impact on the community. Our Kid is not just a shop, it’s a home from home for many of our regulars.
LT: Do you participate in any local business groups?
TG: Yes, we’re members of Chorlton Traders. It’s a local group that meets on a monthly basis to discuss wider issues affecting trade in our immediate area. It’s another way of us ingraining our business into the community. We also get the opportunity to be part of local initiatives such as the annual reindeer trail, shop local promotions and also to flag any problematic issues fellow shopkeepers are experiencing, such as shoplifting.
LT: Are you marking the shop’s third birthday?
TG: We’re gifting ourselves a very special birthday present – the launch of Our Kid’s own clothing range for babies and toddlers, a project that has been rumbling for years now. Our name is our most precious commodity and owning the trademark within kidswear gives us a unique opportunity to bring to life our take on childhood and our Manchester heritage.
Our Kid slogan T-shirts are now officially launched and we’re planning a rapid expansion into the newborn category. The reaction from our customers and followers has been incredible. The T-shirts are flying and this injection of optimism has bolstered our confidence. Whatever the challenge, our little corner of kidswear is here to stay.
