Cornwall Retail Network

Fairy tales - 6 days to go!

 

Yes, there are six days left before the Allsorts Ball - in aid of Cornwall Hospice Care, at Lanhydrock Hotel and Golf Club - and there are still a few tickets available!  

And with preparations in full swing, I'm suddenly aware that I haven't got a dress yet!  Which got me thinking about princesses, and stories and fairy tales, the way that we all like to look and feel amazing, - and by 'we' - I mean the royal 'we', that extends across both sexes, not just my female counterparts.  I know that people are booking hair appointments, buying shirts, searching out those hidden gems that can be found in all the hospice shops, and when I finish laying the tracks and the film for the weekend, I will be rushing around to do it all in a few hours last minuet as normal.  But last minute or not, like everyone else I want to look and feel amazing.

Before the media was the prime source of what is and isn't amazing, before you could be part of the princess saga that is what wedding dress? what designer? how will Kate look? you only really got a glimpse or a description of a princess in a fairy story.  You know the ones that were read to you when you were small, where there was always a beautiful girl, a grumpy horrible women of power and age, and some sort of charming young male character.   It was up to you as the listener or the reader to translate the description into an image, to choose how to see your prince or princess and how to make them come alive, what ever the outcome it was all about telling a story.      

I like stories, and most of what I do everyday revolves around making stories work in the real world, but I've never really wanted to be a princess.   My perception of fairy tales has always been that they are really stories for girls, despite the dragons and the good vs. evil plots, fairy tales are always about relationships between women.  On the surface they are  wrapped with a red bow and happy thoughts, underneath there is always a bigger picture, bigger than the princesses that we aspire to and the princes that they marry.  The happy ending that we all enjoy works because the true worth of the heroine is discovered, and somehow this promises us that one day we will also be discovered and we will be seen as special.

The truth is, that we are all already special.  It doesn't matter what we put on, how many times we do our hair and repaint our nails, what suit you wear or where it came from - everyone has their own story for which they are the hero, and however the story is told or presented the people that matter most will always read it correctly.

When the stories surrounding the hospice and the work it does in Cornwall are shown to all those guests on the 5th of February, there will be more to the message than the red bow its wrapped in.  You should come and see for yourself... 

...Six days and counting

Count down to the Allsorts Ball - 9 days to go!

There are still a few tickets left - and for everyone who hasn't heard about the event, in a nutshell - this is what its all about:

A black tie ball in aid of Cornwall Hospice Care - with entertainment and mini theatre fashion performances and stories presented by Spirit Level Theatre Company, live music from local band Feedback,  food on the go, a rare an unique Bootsale in a Bently and the best company you could find anywhere in Cornwall on a Saturday night in February!  

Few!  Normally I'd be sitting here feeling very glad that tomorrow is Saturday and I can have a lie in!  While I'm still glad its Friday, I know we have rehersals tomorrow morning, so its another early rise, dog walk and feed the chickens before making the journey down to the rugby club - who by the way have been fantastic!  After seeing very little of the performances last week, as I'm trying not to spoil the susprise - what I did see - is absolutly brilliant!  For those of you that have been directly involved in writing these stories you should feel really proud!  

Peter and I have had a few other meetings with the theatre company (Spirit Level) and Events UK who are going to be building the stage, manning the lights and controling the tunes for the event, adn we are really pleased with all the logistics and arrangements that have been made - we are really going to transform Lanhydrock Hotel!  - Who by the way have also been brilliant - really helpful and supportive of everything that we want to do.

Right, I'm off to the Liskeard CHC shop this morning, to pick up some rare items and shiny things for the Bentley, and I'll see those of you that can make rehearsals on Saturday!  

 

Tesco starts selling tyres | News | Retail Week

Tesco is moving into the car parts trade when it launches a tyre-selling service online next month.Britain’s biggest supermarket has teamed up with tyre specialist BlackCircles.com to launch Tesco Tyres, according to The Sun.Customers will be able to order tyres online and take their cars to one of 1,200 affiliated garages to have them fitted.Tesco has also recently moved into the cash-for-gold market.

via www.retail-week.com

Google's plans for retail in the future | Blog | Retail week

Most retailers are aware by now that clean customer and product data is what will take their business to the next level in the coming years. It’s what will help them understand their customers and predict future buying patterns. But retailers aren’t the only ones keen to get control of it. Google is on a drive to get businesses to sign up to their latest e-commerce drive, which focuses on the value of information on local stock levels.

via www.retail-week.com

What windows are really for | Comment | Retail Week

The idea was that a shop window would act as a sampler for what was on offer within. Very simple, and for many retailers it is still the principle driver when considering how to deal with the matter of window displays.

via www.retail-week.com

Simply the best!

Do you have a product or an idea for a product that you want to take to market?? Are you a designer, maker, retailer or a business person who needs help getting their product out there?  If so we may have the solution!  Keep your eyes peeled for further information or download the flyer here!  Download Truro cluster e-draft2

Allsorts Fashion Extravaganza and Black Tie Ball - in Aid of Cornwall Hospice Care!

Download Allsorts-poster

 

For those of you wanting information about the famous Allsorts ball - everything you need should be here!  

Paper jams, security problems, user error... What are the biggest annoyances about managing printing problems at the office?

Firstly a huge hello to those I haven't seen recently! Its amazing how busy we have been in the last 6 months - so busy in fact that I feel like I've crammed a years work into the last few months! However there are lots of exciting things in the pipeline and a few that I really want to tell you about.

Firstly (see attached) Starting on the 28th of February 2011 - we will be running a series of four workshops entitled 'Simply the Best' aimed at designer makers, or retailers who have a product they have designed and want help in getting it into the market place. These workshops do not involve a qualification, and will be delivered by a range of people including national buyers for large retail companies such as John Lewis, it will provide information about copywriting and trade marking, give you and your product free national press coverage and consumer feedback and offer the most popular product a route to market. We will be releasing more details in due course, but for the moment please note the following:

1. Simply the best is a free programme but places are limited to 20 people.
2. It is being funded by convergence through Truro College but will be delivered by industry experts and specialists
3. There are no training qualifications attached to this programme.
4. Simply the Best is open to retailers, traders, designers, makers, and producers - or anyone with a good product idea based in Truro.

Secondly, The Allsorts Fashion extravaganza and black tie ball - in aid of Cornwall Hospice Care, is taking place at Lanhydrock Golf Club on the 5th of February 2011. The event will feature live music, a fashion performance by spirit level theatre company, Cornish Food 'on the go' and will give you a chance to bag bargains and purchase beautiful designer fashion items and accessories. Tickets for the event are £15 and will be available from the 7th of December at Cornwall Hosipce Care outlets! I will keep you updated with this - but do let me know if you are interested.

TypePad Conversations » Answer this question!

If you could go anywhere in the world just to experience the food, where would you go?

 It’s been a few months since I've put finger to keyboard and managed to get around to writing something sensible on here.  Actually I've been both distracted and busy at the same time, which aren't a great combination and generally means my normal speedy process of working away has been a little 'hindered'.  

There are lots of great things going on in Cornwall at the moment, lots of initiatives, change, investment and along side that there is still a sense of uncertainty, you can see it in the drop in house prices, the consumer indexes, the way the weather can't make up its mind if its August or November, the threat of another recession, the governments inability to talk to itself before it announces policy changes (I'm thinking the free milk u-turn), its endless - and its this 'uncertainty' that seems to be fogging up everyone’s creative lenses - mine included.  

It’s funny the way that simple stories in the media or expressions can have such an effect on our behavior.  The weather man says its going to snow - we all stock pile our freezers, batten down the hatches and stay indoors - and all we have is a bit of light rain.  The government says we are in threat of another recession - so we all stop spending our hard earned cash, it’s like dominos - but what it clearly highlights on a mass scale is that as people we all react to things in a similar way.  Which leads me on nicely to my favorite topic - shopping.

In my creative fog I have been making regular visits to the supermarket.  Supermarkets are one of those transient places that for me have about as much sole as a rubber ring, but they do serve a purpose and are one of the biggest 'cash' generators in the retail sector.  I'm normally an on-line shopper (with regards to our household shop), I like getting the shop to take the strain and bring my shopping to my door, so its been a bit of a novelty to wonder, albeit aimlessly, around the huge sheds, looking at packaging, and product placement and customers - who I find far more exciting than the products!  People have a very strange way of navigating spaces with trolleys, especially if they have children in tow, or children in the trolleys, or on skateboards or scooters!  (Yes I have seen that!) And I've also notice that if you happen to be in a large supermarket at about 7:30 in the evening, when all the fresh produce has been reduced, there is a surge of activity around the front entrances where product is often placed, with people fighting for standing and viewing space desperate for a bargain.  How necessary the product is to their shopping trip I am unsure, but it does suggest to me that the majority of customers in that space at that time are shopping for a bargain – rather than for a specific product. 

We are all aware that supermarkets have the power to pile it high and sell it cheap – perhaps that’s their attraction.  Perhaps its also convenience, free parking, everything under one roof, open 24hours so you can even visit in the middle of the night if you can’t sleep or work shifts or just fancy a novel trip out!  It has got me wondering where the words ‘leisure’ and ‘excitement’ have gone from shopping.  Are we really all that programmed that shopping is just another chore or is a visit to the supermarket a family day out? 

Personally its not my idea of a social outing.  However I have to admit that supermarkets in general have something right.  Firstly they have the ability to change and react to customer demand quickly and secondly they attempt to make your experience as painless and comfortable as possible. 

What Supermarkets will never have, as hard as they try is a product that has a story.  We have done a bit of work this year with small producers and what has struck me most is the story behind the product.  The energy that goes into looking after that rare bread of pork, or baking or sewing, just to bring the product to market is immense.  Consumers love to know where their product has come from and meet the people that have loved it and cared for it, it makes the whole transaction process personal, special and enjoyable!  More than that it’s memorable – and that bring customers back, but it also encourages them to tell other people about their wonderful purchase and experience. 

The whole ‘thing’ about food shopping and sustainability is immense.  Supermarkets are perceived to put small traders out of business, but they do have some fantastic retail secrets to offer if you go with a mind to watch rather than buy.  In the same vain, a tiny producer will never compete with a supermarket head to head – it’s impossible.  What they can do is provide an experience, a story, a passion about their product which translates instantly to customers, even on a very basic level. 

There is a point to my waffle and really it’s this – if you could go anywhere in the world to do your shopping – where would you go?  Would you choose to go to a Supermarket – or would you prefer to shop local?  Perhaps it’s not time we are short of, perhaps its imagination. 

 

WHSmith hits out at claims it has the worst shops in the country | News | Retail Week

Well here we are in June, the sun beating down on the county and a bumper half term on the way - at least that's what the amount of traffic pooring into Cornwall last weekend seems to suggest - I can see the £££ signs in your eyes already!

Someone who might be doing a little less well this summer is WH Smiths, who have received a poor review from Which... you can read the article by following the link below.... 

WHSmith hits out at claims it has the worst shops in the country | News | Retail Week.