Independent grocery stores?

[Gideon104]

Hi,

I hope you're all having a great day, and can spare a little time to answer a fairly simple question:

I am trying to work out who independent retail stores (eg: any food stuffs retail store that isn't part of a larger chain) buy their stock from. Surely they don't buy each product individually, so I assume they purchase from a supplier of multiple goods.

Does anyone know some of these supply companies that they could name for me please?

Or if I am mistaken in how I think this works, I would appreciate someone correcting me.

Thanks!


Kind Regards,
Gideon

 

[daveymck]

Local cash and carries I would imagine http://www.batleys.co.uk/ is the big one I know of in our area.

 

[businessfunding]

Many will be part of buying groups such as Nisa, spar, Costcutter et.

others will use a mix of Cash & carry and independent suppliers

A few would go direct to source (like the small specialist food stores)

 

[kelvin1950]

3663 are a very big wholesaler, get some good deals too.

 

[Gideon104]

Thanks for all the replies!

So if I wanted to try and get a list of all of the independent grocery stores in my area, so I could approach them with my product, would anyone have a remote idea of where to start?

All the best,
Gideon

 

[hb123]

these big boy wholesalers really arnt gana give any small supplier etc any real chance other than recommend u unless a decent margin in it for them.

market your product and its usp to select outlets per postcode and where your research shows demand. #

dont give up, once u in the flow u soon forget these minor setbacks
good luck

supplement with good website facility

 

[hb123]

yellow pages
google

visit website of londis, costcutter, nisa, spar, etc and search "find my local stores£"

what exactly u selling
let me know and i try help you

 

[roydmoorian]

Have a look at Musgrave :---

http://www.musgravegroup.com/en/our_brands/store_numbers.php

 

[Gideon104]

Again, these responses are definitely helping me stick on the right track!

yellow pages
google

visit website of londis, costcutter, nisa, spar, etc and search "find my local stores£"

what exactly u selling
let me know and i try help you

Do you know which of these stores have the ability to buy from an independent retailer? I assumed that chains like Nisa, Spar, Costcutter and Londis would have to buy from a central purchasing unit? Any thoughts on this would be really useful, being able to target those stores would make my job much easier!!

What I am selling is a tablet that aids the wake up process - It's basically time delayed pro-plus that the user takes at night and it releases the caffeine equivalent of a cup of coffee just before they wake up!

The product is aimed at students predominantly so I need to target independent retail outlets that are close to universities and places like student unions and bars. Getting a the list of places like this per area is the difficult part!

Once again, thanks very much for the help so far!

All the best,
Gideon

 

[roydmoorian]

It's basically time delayed pro-plus that the user takes at night and it releases the caffeine equivalent of a cup of coffee just before they wake up!

Can I buy some direct for my son-in-law

 

[roydmoorian]

It's basically time delayed pro-plus that the user takes at night and it releases the caffeine equivalent of a cup of coffee just before they wake up!

Can I buy some direct for my son-in-law

I think that you are missing the point that the shops which brand as Londis, Budgens, Costcutter, Spar, Nisa etc. are all in fact independent retailers who buy from their respective suppliers.

 

[Gideon104]

Can I buy some direct for my son-in-law

You are more than welcome to have a sample for free, just let me know where to send it! It would be great to get more opinions of the product

Can I buy some direct for my son-in-law

I think that you are missing the point that the shops which brand as Londis, Budgens, Costcutter, Spar, Nisa etc. are all in fact independent retailers who buy from their respective suppliers.

Since doing a bit of Google hunting I had figured! This is of course great news for me since I can now find a university post-code and simply tap that into Spar, Nisa etc's store locators to find my targets!

Thanks for all the replies, they really are appreciated and it's certainly cleared up a bit of confusion in my head.


All the best,
Gideon

 

[alfonsocomitini165]

Hello Gideon,

I do run a couple of convenience stores. Your best bet is to go to your local cash and carry, set a table, and talk people through the product.

I would first start with at least 5/6 shops, show/sell them the product and see the reaction.

You have to think that when we sell something we don't have time for lengthy explanations. If someone ask me: "what's that?" I might have the time to say "a cool energizer, take it at night andthe next morning you get out of bed like a bullet!!!" or something along those lines!

Remember that we always look for new products to sell; but for a shop keeper "return on investment" is nor everything. In the morning when we go to the bank we don't cash-in a margin on a product but only cash!!!

Anyway, from what I've seen in the past, it's very difficult to get straight to cash and carry. The big guys want to see the product selling before making it available on their shelves.

One more suggestion. Most shops rely on Smith News for their paper delivery early in the morning. I guess it's a national thing, at least in the south the have monopoly over paper. well, find the local depot and see if they would distribute the product while delivering the paper. I've receive many products with my newspapers, some I kept some I sent back. Worth a shot.

Hope it helps.

Best of luck,
Alf

 

[Jo Harrison]

Hi Gideon,

Alf has given some sensible advice, no harm in just walking into a local store and getting feedback from the horses mouth.

If you want to speak to cash and carrys, try Booker, Bestway, Dhamecha, Palmer & Harvey, Parfetts ,etc. But have an idea about their customers and why they would buy your product. You may want to talk to other wholesalers like Alliance Unichem, Phoenix, Boots or AAH Pharmaceuticals as they deal in OTC and pharmacy products.

If you are looking for stores to visit in your area then go to the scoresonthedoors website. If you tap in a postcode, it will give you a list of every outlet that sells food. There will be plenty of takeaways, cafes, etc but also has newsagents and convenience stores that you can visit.

Best of luck!

 

[Gideon104]

Thanks Alf, and Jo, both replies have some great information!

Would anyone be able to advise me on how independent stores go about ordering, replenishing stock and paying please?

I'm guessing it would be direct debit and they would somehow get in contact when stock is running low, but this seems like it could be a lot of hassle if needed for each product, is there some sort of automatic system?

Any more info would be really appreciated.


Kind Regards,
Gideon

 

[harvsuper123]

Independent stores usually pay by cash. Direct debit or standing orders can be set up. Stock in the store needs to be monitored either by yourself by turning up every few days/week or 2 weekly and topping up the stock.

For example I have one supplier come in every Friday at 6pm for the stock I don't call him or anything he turns up at our agreed time. I pay him on a one-in one-out basis.

 

[roydmoorian]

I pay him on a one-in one-out basis.

Who stands the shrinkage ?

 

[Gideon104]

Who stands the shrinkage ?

Luckily with Easy Up, there should never be a time when the product is wasted (3 years 'sell by').

Independent stores usually pay by cash. Direct debit or standing orders can be set up. Stock in the store needs to be monitored either by yourself by turning up every few days/week or 2 weekly and topping up the stock.

For example I have one supplier come in every Friday at 6pm for the stock I don't call him or anything he turns up at our agreed time. I pay him on a one-in one-out basis.

Thanks for this information, it has cleared up the process for me and I now have a system that should work!