Struggling Independent Champions Retail Design

Purple Turtle Music sells guitars and other instruments from a basement unit in a converted mill in Stockport. They are open about the fact that they have had to change their outlook on retail design as a result of competition from the internet. People expect more from a retail establishment than good stock and reliable service. This retailer has had to become a proactive member of the town’s musical community and in addition to sales and repairs it now offers music lessons, rehearsal rooms and provides local bands with a small venue where they can showcase themselves.

Retailers have to do so much more now to win customer loyalty and get people off their PCs and through their doors. ‘We’ve also had to funk the place up quite a bit too’ their manager says ‘we can’t just look like a scruffy basement full of guitars with an out of date point of sale display anymore’. Indeed, on a very small budget Purple Turtle have certainly ‘funked up’ their premises by inviting local artists to decorate the walls with murals and graffiti art. Now Purple Turtle looks and feels more like a rock venue than a retail establishment. ‘It’s probably not the most original idea in the world’ they confess ‘but when your budget is zero you have to look at what can be done rather than sit around saying "wouldn’t it be great if…"’. The strategy seems to have paid off; not only does Purple Turtle have the internet to contend with, but Manchester city centre with all its far larger music shops is less than ten minutes away, and yet this small independent supplier is now winning customers from all over the North West thanks to the environment they’ve created. ‘We used to be very cynical about shops that, in our view, spent far too much time and money on retail design and agonised for hours over their point of sale display. But our recent experiences have shown us that putting time and effort into the look of this place pays off’.




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