Independent thinking

For most stationers lockdown was a time to try to maintain the business – but Sarah Laker isn’t most stationers – she bought another shop and is now busy making it a success

Sarah Laker describes herself as a ‘stationery addict’ – the kind of child who wouldn’t spend their pocket money on sweets, but on stationery and notebooks. As an adult, nothing changed. So when she had the opportunity to take on her own stationery shop in Marple, Greater Manchester, she jumped at it.

The only problem was that Sarah had no experience in retail, having worked as a nurse since leaving school nearly 20 years previously. “I literally walked off the ward on Friday and into the shop on Monday,” she remembers. “I hadn’t got a clue what I was doing. I had never worked in a shop, didn’t know how to do accounts, didn’t know how to buy or sell, I just knew I wanted to run this shop and I wanted it to be stationery because I loved stationery. The rest is history. I learnt everything on the job – made a lot of mistakes – but got a few things right along the way.”

Sarah actually got more than a few things right. Having been in business now for 16 years – no mean feat, given the tough times the high street and stationers have experienced in the past decade – she recently won the ‘Independent Retailer of the Year’ gong at the BOSS Federation Awards, and the ‘Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greetings Cards North’ award at the Retas awards in consecutive weeks.

“The past two years of the pandemic have been such a difficult time for everybody, personally and in business, especially for independent retailers as we have fought so hard to keep our businesses,” she says. “In lockdown, with ever-changing government guidelines, people not being in offices, decreased footfall, it has been such a rollercoaster; to be recognised for getting through, and doing what I have done in that period, is mind-blowing. I am not a big name, just a little high street stationer with two shops.”

Pandemic purchase

What Sarah neglects to mention is that she bought her second shop, in Wilmslow, during the pandemic in 2020. “It was already a stationery shop. I had known the guy for years – he was an Office Club member, like me – and I knew he was retiring,” says Sarah.

After some consideration, she decided to take on the shop with the idea that her eldest daughter, Molly, could learn from her and largely run the shop eventually. “We took over in October and the government announced the November lockdown three weeks later,” she says. “We were like ‘You can’t do this to us!’ We opened in December for about three weeks before the next lockdown and then we didn’t open again until April.

“But the silver lining was that I could spend a lot of time with Molly to teach her about suppliers, where to source stuff from – that sort of thing. We also completely revamped the shop – redecorated, put loads of stands in, made it bright and colourful and created a journey round the shop. There is a gift section, an office section, a student section so it is distinct for customers.”

Sarah aims to give customers an experience when they visit her shops – something they can’t get online. “People can buy anything they want online but they cannot come into a shop and have a personal experience; they can’t try a pen, or smell a notebook,” she explains.

“They also can’t use the knowledge of the staff. Say you need a pen, but have arthritis; you can order a dozen pens online but not get the right one. Go into a stationery shop you can have a member of staff guide you through the pens available and you leave with one in 10 minutes that suits your hand.”

Part of the community

As this shows, customers are at the heart of all that Sarah does. In addition, she places great significance on being an active part of the community in Marple and Wilmslow. “When you are an independent shop, in a local community, it is so important to give back to the community for what they are giving to you,” she says. “In that first lockdown it was really evident, seeing all these local shops reinventing themselves and helping the community in their hour of need when they needed stuff; providing this to them was quite satisfying.

“Anything I can do to give back, and be involved in the community, we do. We work with schools, give prizes, sponsor things, fundraising – I shaved my hair off in the first lockdown and raised £7,500 for a local charity!”

Busy busy

Marketing the Wilmslow shop to the local community is part of Sarah’s many plans for the coming year. “We still have a lot of work to do in the shop in Wilmslow to get it exactly how we want. We have a lot of plans to work with suppliers this year to achieve these goals,” she says. She adds that she hasn’t got any plans to add a third shop – “but never say never! I didn’t know I was going to get shop number two.”

Sarah also plans to expand a Facebook group she runs for independent stationers. Called the Indie Stationers Network (www.facebook.com/indiestationersnetwork) it has been running since 2019 and has more than 30 members. During the pandemic it was a resource for stationers to support each other, and share stories, and now she plans to expand it to become a community of support and advice.

“There is always lots to do,” she says. “I’m also doing a marketing course this year, and an SEO course. I like to be busy; I don’t like sitting still. I consider myself very lucky that I have a job that I adore.

“Running your own shop is never going to be easy, but I enjoy everything about it. I love the thrill of the sale, the buying and I get well supported by my suppliers and by Office Club.”