Attire Accessories - Mar/Apr 2020 (Issue 81)

72 mobility industry in March, and GLEE for the garden centres in September, both of which are important sectors of our customer base, What are your current best-selling designs? Classic wooden derbys that look smart and will go everywhere, ladies’ floral print adjustable and folding canes, our new range of contemporary patterns including cats, flamingos and skulls (not all on the same stick!) and formal evening canes. When was the website launched and how does it support the business? We can’t remember the exact date but it was mid-1990s and this was quite early, certainly before any of our competitors. The first one was very simple but it brought in an order from North America that paid for an extension to our warehouse so we were encouraged to take it seriously from early on! Today, a good proportion of our orders are received through the site, which frees up office time for other things and assists the customers by showing the product’s price, description, photograph and availability all in one place. It also acts as a shop window for the public to view our products and directs them on to our stockists to make their purchases. What have been the key milestones in the business? After the initial start-up, we were reliant on traveling locally to find new stockists. However, after we started attending trade fairs and attracting customers from further afield and abroad, we realised the scope of a specialist walking stick company. Moving into a purpose-built office and warehouse so my parents could have their house back was another big step; before then we had walking sticks piled up in the garage, the kitchen, under our beds! More recently, completing the transition from a first to second generation family business, against a backdrop of a rapidly changing business environment, has brought us up to date in many ways, ready to face the future. How do you view the current market and what trends, both in business and product, do you see emerging over the coming months? We are seeing a polarisation of our customers as the better ones are getting better and the poor performers are getting worse. It is tough out there, especially on the high streets where many retailers are facing ridiculous rates and other costs. Out of town garden centres and mobility shops have become much more important stockists for us than they were a decade or so ago, and of course we now have many stockists who make much of their money online. I can’t see this trend changing unless the government starts giving some real attention to the needs of British retailers. Product-wise, it is all about sustainability. We all know what cheap, throwaway goods are doing to our planet and we urge retailers and consumers to buy the best they can afford. Do you have any thoughts on how Brexit will affect your business? We have a large export market and much of it is to the EU so we are naturally anxious to see Brexit handled responsibly. There are great possibilities and we hope that the decisions to be made are in the right hands. Exchange rate fluctuations are the main worry as this can affect wholesalers’ fragile margins fast when both importing and exporting, so the sooner we have clarity and the markets settle down, the better. What are your future plans for the business? Onwards and upwards; we need more warehouse space as we are bursting at the seams and are looking into various alternatives to address this. We will also be at the vanguard of walking stick design with many new patterns and styles in the pipeline. There are no revolutions planned: this is a family business and will continue to evolve and adapt as we have done since 1982. Is there anything else you’d like to add? All wholesalers rely on their customers for business, new ideas and support, so I would like to thank the many retailers who have given us not only their custom but their uninhibited advice and views over the years. We have learned so much from our customers and they have made running Classic Canes interesting, unpredictable at times, and always fun. We are very grateful for their loyalty. CLASSIC CANES T: +44 (0)1460 75686 W: classiccanes.co.uk