My doctor said “You must exercise more.” And since there’s nothing I enjoy more than to exercise with my plastic, I go on spending sprees. I’m a big tackle tart at heart, but when it comes to buying tackle do we anglers get the same pleasure as say the average woman in the street? For women it is what the new marketeers call a ‘retailing experience’ and for women provides a full day of entertainment.
Sadly, angling isn’t that popular and the maximum we get is probably one angling store per town unless you’re on the edge of, or in, a city. Okay, so you’re not going to spend all day in one angling store, but just how much time do you spend browsing and what stock is there to browse? More importantly, what is there to prompt you to make that impulsive purchase of something you didn’t think you needed, but after seeing the bargain it is, you can no longer manage without it? Well, that’s how women shop. How often has your wife or partner come home and said, “I saw this and I thought it such a bargain and I saved us £ 25 as it was on special offer.” That’s women for you, and if tackle shops present themselves in a proper way and do the right presentation of promotions they can get you to buy like that as well. Yes, there are mail order outlets and if you know what you want or are willing to take a gamble then they are fine, but when you want to see the goods before you buy them you want a well stocked, well ordered store to visit. For me this means a 35 mile trek up the M40 to Bicester and J&K Tackle and it’s these people I want to feature as an example of a perfect retailing experience. J&K Tackle is a family run business owned and managed by dedicated anglers as well as good sound businessmen who have built up this store to one of the finest in the south midlands / south east. It may not yet be the largest in the country although they have pushed the inside dimensions about as far as they can without moving premises. The biggest benefit, and one that many shops either miss or cannot afford, is that it is in the main precinct in Bicester, almost directly opposite Tesco’s and therefore must attract and encourage passing trade.
What strikes you as you walk into the shop is how tidy and well organised it all is. Compared to some tackle shops I have known where you are constantly falling over bits of tackle left all over the floor, J&K’s floor space is clear of many untidy obstacles and CLEAN, yes, vacuumed. You’d have to be a mad bull to fall over anything in there, although I managed to knock off one item (and yes I do realise the full implication of that last remark). I managed to catch a pike lure on a card that hadn’t been properly placed back on the stand. Like many other shops they have sections for different fishing practices, but in J&K they seem endless. No sooner do you think you have seen everything than something else catches your eye and you wonder if there’s not more that you might have missed. It’s a veritable wonderland for tackle tarts like myself. For those interested in carp fishing, full and part walls are entirely dedicated to different makes, Solar, Fox, Nash, ESP, Gardner, the list goes on. And it’s not just a small selection of that manufacturer’s products, it’s almost the full range, if not all. The stands are kept wonderfully clean and the stock is displayed in a fashion that makes you want to try, to test, to fit, to buy. The major goods displayed are not the goods you purchase either, in most cases a brand new item will be brought from the stockroom and you inspect it before you buy. If, by any chance, they have an item that’s not out on display, as once happened with me, they bring it out and set it up in one of their many spaces. If you’re still not entirely happy there’s no pressure on you to purchase. In fact they will go out of their way to bring out more equipment to ensure that you are 100% happy with your ultimate decision to buy or not to buy.
Now I’m sure you too have shops with an attitude like that, but do they have this amount of room and organisation? Not many do and yet the overall floor space isn’t as big as some shops I have seen selling books for example. Does your shop label the goods as well as J&K does? There’s so much information on the tickets you don’t need any help from an assistant, but should you want one there are several (3-4 on most weekdays) lads there to lend a hand. This is just a small town as well, not Hicksville, but not a Croydon or Leicester either. J&K clearly has a good reputation. Yes, this is beginning to sound like a plug, a free advert and what am I getting out of it? Absolutely nothing, I can assure you, not even an extra discount and they always manage to relieve me of a three figure sum whenever I go. The reason I am writing this is to show you what we should always expect from a good angling store. Places where it is a pleasure to browse and spend your hard-earned. Places where you don’t have to ask if they have the latest gizmo from ABC, because you know that if the shop deals with ABC then it will be there. And what of impulse buying? Believe me, when there are any special offers (and there are many) they are displayed in such a way that you cannot possibly miss them. On the rod stands the very special offers are usually at eye level to the front in order that you notice those first. Those positions are known as selling zones because it is where your eye settles first. If you want to shift a line put it in that position, but how many shops have you visited where they have had specials and you didn’t find out about them. The goods are tucked away as if the owner didn’t really want to part with them for some strange reason.
Look at the stack of Shakespeare boxes in the photo and ask yourself, when kids come in the shop and want a fishing box what will they notice first? That enormous stack of Shakespeare fishing boxes and I would bet a tenner that no kid (or adult) could resist that presentation. The areas are so well lit as well (it was a problem for the camera because the built-in flash is none too good and I had to rely on ‘slow flash’ and let the natural light fill in), believe me there are no darkened areas in J&K’s shop. Those older ones amongst you (like me) that wear glasses will appreciate that. And when you come to the end of your shopping spree, there’s a nice clear area in front of the main counter where you can pay for your purchases and that in itself is important. Just a minute though, you think you have finished shopping, but here at the counter are even more special offers, latest products, new gizmos, more spending. I’m a spender, get me out of here! I am prepared to travel 35 miles for a bit of pleasure like this because my local shop, just one mile away, falls into the aforementioned – if they’ve got it, you’ve probably fallen over it. They stock what the manager wants to use or he has been asked for by at least 30 of his customers before he’ll take a chance on buying a dozen. Many goods aren’t priced up with tickets and often there is no one to ask or help. There is no longer any anti-theft devices in operation in the shop and then he complains that he has to charge over and above the RRP to cover the pilferage.
So if ever I’m looking for a bit of retailing pleasure, call it what you like, or I want a look at what’s new or something major I’ll do the travelling to Bicester if you don’t mind. There is so much choice and so much to see, I even have to take out a two hour parking ticket now. Yet once again on this recent trip they took a three figure sum off me, but only just over the hundred this time. Come on lads you’re slipping, I’ve got thousands on my card. (Ooops!) Website details for J&K are www.jktackle.co.uk Next time – I’m looking at a smaller store that copes very well. |
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