Successful seaside business

Seaborn Stores

Seaborn Stores is situated a short walk from the seafront in Morecambe in Lancashire. The store, owned and run by Kelly Allen has recently undergone renovation and is now a Londis Concept Store for the North, featuring new innovations that other Londis retailers can visit to experience first hand. The new layout has enabled them to add in a beer cave, stocking craft beers which Kelly says is a talking point and extremely popular with the customers. Additionally, there has been extra space created for fresh and chilled lines and food to go. A nearby bakery has meant that Kelly has opted not to offer hot food but the range of hot drinks and slushies are popular and selling well.

Londis refit

The Londis Design and Merchandising team along with Retail Outlet Design led the new layout and Kelly reports very favourably on the process. Though they did find themselves trading from a container for two weeks in a cold November while the renovations were carried out, hassle was minimal and she was delighted with the brilliant design and excellent work, including the way they cleared any follow up snagging issues.

Store team

The team of eleven is headed by Kelly and ably assisted by her Mum, Sandra, who ran the store herself along with her husband Don, before he retired. Kelly is very hands-on within the business, feeling that her presence on the shop floor is supportive of her team and is respected by her customers who know they can raise issues or make requests directly. Kelly’s husband Steve, also helps out at the store, despite having another job in a building supply firm and her young daughter, aged just eleven, is also a till user and helps out in her free time. Kelly speaks very highly of her team who pulled together to support the community over Covid. It wasn’t just the staff, deliveries were handled by the volunteers in the local community through a WhatsApp group, making sure that vulnerable residents were cared for while Kelly sourced stock from wherever she could find it! They still offer home deliveries to those who have come to rely on the service.

How ShopMate helps the business flourish

Kelly has used ShopMate EPoS for seven years and praises it for its reliability. Though her hardware isn’t new any longer, she says she rarely experiences any difficulties – but knows she can rely on the helpful tech support team who have always been able to fix the occasional issue she has run into over the years – and offered valuable advice on how to use the system. She describes herself as “not very techy” yet is able to access the system from home using Back Office, keep an eye on the sales when required and likes the easily accessible VAT reports and stock checks. Local loyalty helps keep shoppers returning and Kelly makes the most of her promotions with MediaMaster screens.

Community

The store, though close to the beach, is largely frequented by locals more than tourists owing to the surrounding mixed residential dwellings, lots of families and some fairly high turnover local flats. It is visited by the workers of the nearby power station, students from Morecambe Academy and the staff from Lancaster University who live locally. Students settle in the area after qualifying and a local nursery encourages further trade. The young pupils even take educational visits to the store. Kelly is keenly watching the Eden of the North project as it unfolds as she knows this will bring much needed investment into the area and opportunities for growth.

Growing the business with Social Media

We recommend you visit Seaborn Stores Facebook Page as it’s a great example of how to engage with your customers – Kelly shares creatives by Londis but also shows the community minded atmosphere of the store through sharing charity initiatives and local interest posts. You can also get a glimpse of the re-fit in progress if you look at their photos!