For this issue, the Housewares Magazine team of mystery shoppers visited, and assessed, eight stores across Oxfordshire
Lögrens Nordic Style, Magdalen Road, Oxford (JOINT WINNING INDEPENDENT)
In the mid-1980s, Elisabeth Humphries’ career brought her to Oxford to polish up her English. With her main career behind her, she felt it was time to finally start a business, linking her Swedish roots to her life in the UK.
I was looking for some bowls. Inside the store, Elisabeth greeted me and asked if I needed any help. I explained what I was looking for and Elisabeth presented the Mon Amie range, and she said that the designer of the bowls was Marianne Westman.
Elisabeth explained that Ms Westman, who died in 2017, created some of the most popular porcelain ranges in Sweden.
The 60ml Mon Amie bowls were priced at £25 each, and Elisabeth said that she had four bowls in stock and she could get more if I needed more.
Elisabeth added that the Mon Amie range also includes a tea cup, a mug and a side plate, which were priced at £28, £24 and £26 respectively. She added that there is a dinner plate available in the Mon Amie range, priced at around £40.
Summary: It was great to meet Elisabeth and her passion for Marianne Westman and the Mon Amie range was infectious. The store was beautifully presented inside and out, and I’ll definitely head back as a customer in the future.
Sales skills: 5/5; Store presentation: 5/5
Total score: 10/10
ProCook, The Westgate, Queen Street, Oxford (WINNING MULTIPLE)
This store is located on the upper ground level of the Westgate Shopping Centre, and is located between other national retailers, Lush and Skechers.
I was looking to buy a stand mixer. Inside the store, I located the electricals area and there were three stand mixers on display.
The red and black models were priced at £249, while the gun metal model was priced at £199. The price tickets indicated that the stand mixers have six speed settings and pulse function for easy folding, whisking and beating.
Nick approached me and asked if I needed any help. He explained that the mixers feature a six-litre mixing bowl, and he pointed out that the KitchenAid stand mixer only features a five-litre bowl.
He said that included with the stand mixers are a splash shield and whisk, beater and dough attachments. He added that the mixer’s attachment hub was compatible with KitchenAid accessories.
Nick pointed out that the gun metal mixer was incorrectly priced, but said that he would honour that price if I was interested in that model. He added that the mixers come with a two-year guarantee.
Summary: Honouring the price, making comparisons with KitchenAid and mentioning the two-year guarantee, were all excellent attempts by Nick to close the sale. The store was well presented, inside and out.
Sales skills: 5/5; Store presentation: 5/5
Total score: 10/10
Objects of Use, Market Street, Oxford (JOINT WINNING INDEPENDENT)
This store, located opposite Jesus College, is described by the retailer as being a modern-day hardware store, home to a unique selection of everyday household tools, conscientiously sourced from around the globe.
I was looking to buy some cutlery. The first set, Jesse presented, was stainless steel table cutlery from Brescia, Italy, priced at £29 for the four-piece place setting, consisting of dinner fork, dinner knife, dinner spoon and tea spoon.
Jesse explained that the cutlery is finished with a tumbled porcelain stone wash to give a soft, low sheen, smooth to the touch surface intended for the rigours of daily use.
The second, Jesse presented, was a French teak-handled cutlery set, priced at £70.
Jesse said the classically modern bistro style cutlery set consists of a knife, fork, spoon and teaspoon.
Jesse finished his presentation by mentioning that the store does have multiple sets, so if I wanted either, I could increase the number of placings easily.
Summary: Jesse did a great job; he presented products well. A key element of this visit was that Jesse gave details of the history of the products, which was an attempt to close the sale. The store was well presented.
Sales skills: 5/5; Store presentation: 5/5
Total score: 10/10
TK Maxx, Templars Shopping Park, Between Towns Road, Oxford
This TK Maxx store added Homesense on Thursday, April 2023, to create a two-storey superstore.
I was looking to buy a knife block set. Inside the store, I was greeted by a member of staff, as I headed to the first floor, which is where the housewares are located.
In the locked cabinet, there were three suitable knife block sets. As I browsed, I was drawn to the Challenge 25 point-of-sale, which highlighted that it is illegal for the store to see age restricted products to customers under the age of 18.
The first product was a stainless steel five-piece knife block set from KitchenCraft, priced at £24.99. The box indicated that the set comes with a 10-year guarantee.
Another product that came with a 10-year guarantee was a six-piece knife block set from Viners, priced at £19.99.
The most premium knife block set came from Hamilton and was priced at £39.99. The box for this product was the only one of the three that detailed the product; the box contained paring, all purpose, carving, bread and 20cm chef’s knives, with an acacia wood block.
Summary: Despite a friendly welcome, that was as good as it got. The knives were presented well and store looked great.
Sales skills: 1/5; Store presentation: 5/5
Total score: 6/10
Lakeland, Market Square, Witney
This store, which opened on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, is located between The Corn Exchange and a branch of Barnardo’s.
I was looking to buy an air fryer. Inside the store, I located the air fryer display and started to browse the products. Two members of staff were chatting behind the counter and ignored me.
There were nine air fryers on display, ranging in price from £49.99 to £169.99.
I liked the look of the Lakeland slimline air fryer, which was priced at £89.99.
According to its price ticket, the slimline air fryer had an eight-litre cooking capacity and seven pre-set cooking programmes. It also referenced the clear-view cooking window to check on progress, and the air fryer can cook between 80°C and 200°C.
The air fryer display looked really good because, in addition to the products, air fryer liners, priced at £3.99, were also merchandised there.
With no sign of an approach, I left the store.
Summary: I was unable to assess the sales skills; the store was presented well, and the air fryer display looked very good.
Sales skills: 0/5; Store presentation: 5/5
Total score: 5/10
Dunelm, Meadowside Retail Park, Lamarsh Road, Oxford
This store is located on a retail park, where its neighbours include two other national retailers, Halfords and Hobbycraft.
I had just moved into my new build house and was looking to buy a new saucepan package. Inside the store, I headed to the mezzanine level and was delighted to see saucepans well merchandised – and there were loads of them too.
I started to browse the cookware sets.
The first set was the Scoville Ultra Lift 4+1 cookware set, priced with 20% off at £48. The box indicated that the set consists of a 16cm milk pan, 18cm and 20cm saucepans with lids, a 24cm frying pan and a free 20cm frying pan.
The second set was from Tefal (Titanium Force), priced at £60. The box indicated that it was a five-piece set, which was suitable for all hob types, excluding induction.
After five minutes of browsing, and with no sign of an approach, I left the store.
Summary: I was unable to assess the sales skills in this store. The displays looked very good, but housewares need to be explained, so there is more work to do here.
Sales skills: 0/5; Store presentation: 5/5
Total score: 5/10
John Lewis + Partners, Westgate Shopping Centre, Queen Street, Oxford
Located in the Westgate Shopping Centre, this 120,000sq ft store was launched as the anchor tenant for the redeveloped centre; it opened on Friday, October 24, 2017.
I was looking to buy a Nespresso coffee machine. Inside the store, the appliances are located on the upper ground level.
On display were five original Nespresso machines, plus the stunning Sage Creatista Plus, priced at £329. There were no members of staff in the department.
There was a spring promotion running on some of the Nespresso machines, which offered a free Aeroccino milk frother when customers purchased 100 coffee pods.
The Nespresso CitiZ (EN167.B), priced at £149, was part of the Aeroccino promotion. The price ticket indicated that the Citiz has a one-litre capacity and comes with a two-year guarantee. The price ticket also mentioned Protect+, where cover would cost £10 for two years.
On the Nespresso Vertuo side, I liked the look of the Vertuo Pop Barista Bundle (ENV90.B), which was priced at £199.
Summary: I was unable to assess the sales skills at this store. The display was untidy, with price tickets missing.
Sales skills: 0/5; Store presentation: 4/5
Total score: 4/10
Next, Westgate Shopping Centre, Queen Street, Oxford
This store is located next to Primark and adjacent to Superdrug, on the upper floor of the Westgate Shopping Centre.
I was continuing looking at things for my new home, and in this store, I was looking to buy a dinner set. Inside the store, I headed to the home department, which is located on the back wall of the store.
There was an impressive dozen 12-piece dinner sets boxed ready to go, with some samples of the plates on display.
The dinner sets ranged in price from £45-£70, but some boxes were unpriced.
After looking at some of the sample, I thought the Otis range, priced at £60 looked ideal. With no information on the box, I did some post-visit research online and found that the Otis range consisted of four 26cm diameter dinner plates, four 21.5cm diameter side plates and four bowls.
There were no staff in the home department, so after five minutes of browsing, I left the store.
Summary: I was unable to assess the sales skills in this store. The store was well presented, but I’ve knocked a point off for unpriced products.
Sales skills: 0/5; Store presentation: 4/5
Total score: 4/10
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