Phoenix from the flames

摘要

In 2001, retailer Stuart Wallace's premises were destroyed by fire. ERM looks at how he rebuilt the business. For independent retailer Stuart Wallace of Branston in Lincolnshire, September 11, 2001, will not only be remembered for the terrorist attacks in America but it was also the day that his small premises were gutted by fire. However, as it turned out, the destruction was perhaps a blessing in disguise because Stuart Wallace was able to rebuild his business to his own design and at the same time increase display space Like many of the well established retailers in the electrical retailing industry, Stuart started as an engineer with small shop S, Blackwell in Lincoln, mainly repairing colourTVs in the boom time of the introduction of CTV in the late 1960s. "At the time we couldn't get supplies of product because manufacturers were supplying the discounters such as Trident and Comet who had just started," he recalls, "I would be sent in a hired furniture van to negotiate with the manager of one of the discount stores and buy TVs, etc, at the lowest possible price, pay cash and then bring them back to the shop to sell at a reasonable profit, I was also very busy on the repair side because around 50 per cent of sets broke down at the time."