Iceland boss Malcolm Walker's influence in the retail industry apparently doesn't stretch as far as his daughter. Caroline Walker, managing director of
As Nature Intended, is proud to
say that she's done things her
way, despite her father's stake in the company.
Her business is shaking up the organic and natural sector with two successful London stores in Chiswick and Ealing and another about to open in Balham.
The shop in Ealing opened in March last year and was very much her project. "I wouldn't let my father near the Ealing store before it opened," the 29-year-old says. "He's set up a very successful food business and of course I go to him for advice, but there are some things you want to do yourself."
This approach seems to have worked. Annual turnover is £5m and the company is profitable, something that Walker says her closest competitors, Planet Organic and Fresh & Wild, would struggle to claim.
So what is Walker doing that these established businesses are not? She says her success comes from implementing a supermarket philosophy, despite being an organic specialist. "We don't do things such as juice bars and sandwich bars, because they don't make money. And we have very low overheads with just three or four people in the office. We're following supermarket principles, running the company as a profitable business."
It's clear walking around the Ealing store that the layout is based on a standard convenience format. There's a fresh produce
section, two chillers plus a freezer with pizzas and puddings. Scattered around the store are displays of candles, greetings cards, toilet rolls, make-up, petfood and toys. There are ten to 12 decent money-saving promotions each month, mainly in the form of multibuys.
Ninety-five per cent of products are organic and where they aren't there is some other unique selling point. Greetings cards, for instance, are made in developing countries, who receive 10% of the price of each card. Candles are made of environmentally-friendly beeswax, and toys - such as skipping ropes and jigsaw puzzles - help encourage
activity or creativity. Natural remedies have proved popular with sales growing by the month.
The new store in Balham will be based very much on the Ealing format, targeting affluent professionals and health-conscious mothers. However, at 3,000 sq ft it will be slightly bigger than Ealing's 2,700 sq ft.
Fresh produce is the centrepiece of the format. Around this there is plenty of space, making it easy to examine little wonders that you would only find in specialist stores such as this.
For example, a crinkly packet of something covered in Japanese lettering turns out to be a brush for scrubbing vegetables. Or you can buy a scented sachet that humanely scares away moths. Or how about the store's bestseller for the past two months - Tibetan goji berries, a handful of which contain more vitamin C than 300 apples.
Other little touches provide a unique feel to the shopping
experience. Price labels are colour-coded: green means organic, red not organic, and blue means it's on offer. Information leaflets are scattered around the store telling you about some of the more obscure items and there are miniature trolleys to keep children occupied.
Rather than simply creating an organic c-store, Walker appears keen to develop a chain that is seen as ethical, organic, natural, healthy and one that trades fairly. But she's also a businesswoman who wants to make money. There are plans to open a new store each year and she's also looking at selling own label products. "At the end of the day I'm running a commercial business," she says. "We do everything as ethically as possible but we have to keep overheads low."
It seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all.
No comments yet