A FAMILY-RUN artificial grass retailer’s new store in Birmingham has become its busiest in the UK – only weeks after it was opened by Small Business Commissioner, Paul Uppal.
Footfall at the Grass Direct Store on the Ravenside Retail Park in Erdington is the highest compared to the other 11 stores, which have been opened across England, Scotland and Wales over the past two years.
The stores sell the UK’s largest selection of artificial grass as well as a huge range of flooring from its sister companies; Flooring Superstore and Direct Wood Flooring. The aim of the store is to provide a one-stop-shop for all your flooring needs – whether inside or outside the home.
Significant growth of Grass Direct comes as we see a rise in demand from the lazy gardener; householders opting to ditch the garden maintenance for good and go artificial. This coupled with the recent heatwave across the UK, drove a peak in sales for Erdington’s opening month.
The company behind the store, Connection Retail, say sales figures for the £150,000, 5,000-square foot store were up 22% from the original forecast.
Managing Director Dan Foskett says: “Over the last few years we have opened stores spanning the UK, in cities such as York and Edinburgh, so we are delighted that the new store in Birmingham has surpassed these in terms of footfall.
“It was always our ambition to open a store in Birmingham and we would like to thank local people for their support.
“Less than three years ago, we were purely an online business and now we’re rapidly emerging as a major player on the high street, with stores in major conurbations across the UK and more planned in 2019 and beyond.”
One of the factors which has contributed to the success of the Erdington store has been a ‘Golden Ticket’ promotion. This has seen golden tickets being given to shoppers who provide contact details and the tickets contain a range of in-store discounts.
The biggest prize, £1,000 discount off artificial grass, has yet to be claimed.
Dan adds: “This is the first time we have ran a promotion like this, but it has proven very popular and we are now planning to roll this out for other store openings.
“It’s going to be a nice surprise when the person with the £1,000 golden ticket opens it to discover what they have won.”
The Erdington store created three new jobs for local people. It is the 12thopened by family-run Connection Retail, with other stores in Edinburgh, Swindon, Newport, 2 x York, Coventry, Thurrock, Bracknell, Gateshead, Havant and Keighley.
People who visit the stores can choose flooring from three brands owned by Connection Retail – Flooring Superstore, Direct Wood Flooring and Grass Direct.
Further store openings are planned this year in Bristol, Glasgow, Stockport, Milton Keynes and Crewe.
Further stores are scheduled to open throughout 2019.