POLL RESULT: When did you last refurb the shop?

We asked our dealers when they were last able to invest in improving the look and feel of their shop.

In a market experiencing very little, if any, growth, with quite a number of stores facing a toxic mixture of sludgy cash-flow coupled with increasing overheads in a dwindling high street environment, re-investment in the store, although a priority, may be difficult.

The shops that have disappeared in the last few years have, in many instances, suffered from poor in-store conditions and outmoded product presentation. Not all, but quite a few. And in a less stringent economic situation they might have been have been able to tough it out and get by on an existing core of loyal customers. But when they stop spending as well, you need to start attracting new ones and that’s when the presentation of your shop comes under scrutiny.

So what percentage of our survey have been able to invest in their store presentation and spend money on a refurbishment? Well, a healthy 50 per cent said they had refurbished in the last 12 months. But just under 34 per cent hadn’t managed it in the last two years. Some 16.7 per cent hadn’t been able to do it in the last five years and 16.7 per cent said they simply couldn’t afford it.