Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
A new standalone cookshop opened three months ago by a Buckinghamshire ironmonger’s shop is celebrating sales way above initial targets.
Odell’s of Stony Stratford opened Odell’s Kitchen Cupboard in August, having developed a listed outbuilding in its yard. Existing lines of kitchenware and cookware were moved from the ironmonger’s into the cookshop, and, despite it having only around 300sq ft of space, new lines were taken on.
Now, reports David Odell, joint owner of the business with his brother Richard: “We were expecting an increase but we’re doing far more business than anticipated, and it’s all to do with kitchenware being separated from the hardware business.
“We’re up by 400 or 500% over the original shop. We’re delighted, and the feedback we’re getting back is astonishing,” he told HousewaresLive.net.
Odell’s can trace its history back to 1740, and it has been in the Odell family since 1863.
“We’ve always been involved in cookware,” said Odell, “but we’ve now increased the stock range and have more quirky and colourful products. The whole thing has moved up several gears.”
New suppliers include Joseph Joseph, Emma Bridgewater and Utensa, and the cookshop is also buying much more product from Thomas Plant.
Said Odell: “We’ve always dealt with Thomas Plant – we were certainly dealing with them in the late 1800s!”
Odell’s has developed five new shops in total from its outbuilding but is only running the cookshop; the others are let out.
