Topic ID 6533
Hi there, I am currently looking at starting a retail business in the centre of Hertford and am in the process of doing market research into where people go in the town and what they like to do there. I have designed a questionnaire for people to complete and would be really grateful if any of you could take the time to complete it. It takes about five minutes and (hopefully) is not too onerous. The link is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/leaf_research Thanks very much for your time. Rebecca
Reply ID 87532
what is "Personal administration"? do you mean going to the bank?
Reply ID 87533
So - you are thinking of a bookshop, a cake shop or a cafe????? [?] Wouldn't mind a bookshop with a cafe in it .....
Reply ID 87535
seems like it; Given a bookshop has already failed in hertford, and there is the existing excellent oxfam bookshop, tread with care if that is the direction. Anyway i did the survey! One thing that i think is missing in hertford, is somewhere with provision for child play.
Reply ID 87536
quote:Agreed. Adventure Castle was a big loss when it moved to Hoddesdon. Particularly with the weather we're currently experiencing.
Originally posted by codek2
seems like it; Given a bookshop has already failed in hertford, and there is the existing excellent oxfam bookshop, tread with care if that is the direction. Anyway i did the survey! One thing that i think is missing in hertford, is somewhere with provision for child play.
Reply ID 87539
well we always say "did anyone do any research before opening a shop here!"
Reply ID 87540
I'd love to see a national chain come in - particularly Next - as I think it would attract people in to the town and other shops may benefit too. However, in terms of an independent shop in a small unit, I would consider a children's shoe shop to be a potentially lucrative gap in the market. Currently have to drag children to either Brookfield or Welwyn - and even then its only Clarks.
Reply ID 87541
quote:You may be veering slightly off-topic there (just so as to prevent the thread from becoming another "what I'd like to see in Hertford" discussion. I don't think that was the O/P's intention) [:)]
Originally posted by newgirl
I'd love to see a national chain come in - particularly Next - as I think it would attract people in to the town and other shops may benefit too. However, in terms of an independent shop in a small unit, I would consider a children's shoe shop to be a potentially lucrative gap in the market. Currently have to drag children to either Brookfield or Welwyn - and even then its only Clarks.
Reply ID 87543
I will refrain - however,[:)] that is the purpose of the survey
Reply ID 87545
Good luck on your venture. Not sure how a cafe/bookshop will fare and which area you are looking at opening? Your twitter page looks interesting. Have you thought about contacting Hertford Theatre as a concession? I vaguely remember Serendipity threatening to pull out of it (not sure if they did) so your venture might have some legs at that site. [:)]
Reply ID 87546
quote:I've missed something............what twitter page?
Originally posted by James007
Good luck on your venture. Not sure how a cafe/bookshop will fare and which area you are looking at opening? Your twitter page looks interesting. Have you thought about contacting Hertford Theatre as a concession? I vaguely remember Serendipity threatening to pull out of it (not sure if they did) so your venture might have some legs at that site. [:)]
Reply ID 87549
quote:It would have been easier if linked to from this thread, as you have just done.
Originally posted by James007
This one. https://twitter.com/#!/rpirt Very easy to find.
Reply ID 87550
Perhaps you could try producing and selling cold brew coffee. Seems to be a growing thing, especially in the states. Oh; and i still want to know what personal administration is!
Reply ID 87559
Thank you all so much for completing the survey and for your comments - all of which are extremely helpful!. We moved to Hertford less than a year ago and I am so impressed to find such an active community here. As some of you realised, I am hoping to open a bookshop/ cafe in Hertford and want to create a very friendly community space which is child friendly and has the potential to run events etc. However, obviously this all depends on the market research and whether this is what people want/ would use.... Therefore your responses are really useful. The last thing I want to do is to offer things that no-one wants to buy as that doesn't help anyone! BTW - by 'personal administration' I meant banking/ solicitor's visits / council appointments those kind of things (they didn't seem to fit easily under another bracket). I will keep you posted on the results! Thanks again. Rebecca
Reply ID 87560
PS will investigate cold brew coffee.....
Reply ID 87587
Good luck with your venture! I will definitely be one of your customers!
Reply ID 87595
Cold brew coffee rules. I've started doing it at home over the last few weeks. Makes a really smooth coffee.
Reply ID 87612
Tell me more - what is "cold brew" coffee exactly?
Reply ID 87613
just google it. It's nothing clever, You just brew the coffee in cold water overnight, and it gives a much richer ( and stronger ) coffee. You can then heat it up. Kinda makes those crazy espensive espresso machines look stupid :)
Reply ID 87615
Hi, can i suggest you visit Davids bookshop in Letchworth, one of the few ind. bookshops and music shops that appears to be doing well at the moment, they also have a small bustling cafe that is always busy when we have popped in. they have been very clever in loyalty cards to cafe also offering discount in bookshop when full, discounts on childrens books on saturday mornings, a very good large second hand book section, as well as new books, etc. they also do things like signings and record store day as well. the cafe has great cakes - lemon drizzle and victoria sponge are great. we often go to Letchworth just to pop in. i would love a bookshop in Hertford. difficult to manage stock price and turnover against the cost of rental for a large unit. best of luck.
Reply ID 87617
Thanks - will go to Letchworth for a visit! Am going to try Cold brew coffee tonight... will keep you posted!
Reply ID 87618
I remember David's bookshop very very fondly. I grew up in Letchworth and loved browsing in there. I used to often visit as a child and I am now in my forties so been going for a long time.
Reply ID 87619
Agreed, David's in Letchworth are brilliant.
Reply ID 87621
quote:Agreed, very surprising to find a place like that these days but he has the big advantages of such a business, service and knowledge - I asked about some books published in about 1918 and he knew exactly what I was talking about.
Originally posted by Steve
Agreed, David's in Letchworth are brilliant.
Reply ID 87624
on another note as someone mentioned the oxfam bookshop in Hertford earlier in the post, St. Albans had an excellent second hand book shop, Patons, that used to get a lot of custom from people who were also in St. Albans to go to the Oxfam bookshop...i would often go to St. Albans to visit both, now that Paton has closed i have rarely go. the reason for Paton closing, as i understand it, was property and rental prices, they had a large shop floor. i think you can get away with a smaller unit if you are specialising in a specific subject area. on a side note i love my crazy espensive espresso machine, nothing like a espresso con panna for a bit of indulgence, or a soothing latte in the evening, and if you get a 'proper' machine, with little or no electric circurty to go wrong they last decades...so a very good investment comapred to cost of a cappuccino daily, and the difficulty in finding somwhere whcih does a decent espresso con panna or macchiato.
Reply ID 87663
Thank you all again for filling in the questionnaire - I have now closed the responses as have had a wonderful 109 replies. This gives me a good sample from which to work which is great. Thanks also for all your suggestions (I will be going on a trip to Letchworth soon). When I have analysed what you all said I will post the highlights here for your info! Thanks again. Rebecca
Reply ID 89328
HI there It's been a while since you all gave me your help but I promised to put in the highlights of your responses here so (not before time) am putting up the highlights of what you said in the survey. 80% of people who answered the survey go into town more than once a week. 63% go into town for supermarket shopping. With 47% meeting friends and going out for coffee/ lunch. When going out for coffee 79% said that the quality of the food was very important to them with 55% of people saying that service was very important. Fore Street and Bircherley green are the most visited areas of town. 61% of people would like to see a deli in town whilst 44% wanted more bookshops. 46% of people also wanted to see more shoe shops. Toyshops and mens clothes shops were also of lesser interest. 60% of people thought that they would use the New Sainsburys. I hope that this is of interest and apologies for the delay in posting it up. Thanks again for all you help [:)]
Reply ID 89334
hmmm.. "60% of people said they would use the new sainsburys"... not sure how reliable your data is, given that there is another thread (currently in it's 10th page) discussing how empty the new sainsburys is.
Reply ID 89335
The survey was before Sainsbury opened.
Reply ID 89336
quote:When I went at the weekend it was very busy, despite there being few vehicles in the car park and the weekdays are getting better for them too. Having parking charges enforced upon them puts Sainsbury at a significant disadvantage, compared to Tesco, but protects Waitrose, who's customers also have to pay to park. As unfair as it seems, and to my utter amazement, this and the new bridge appear to be working and creating a slow build of on foot shoppers. Bike racks were busier than Tesco's were on the same day.
Originally posted by Bengeobabe
hmmm.. "60% of people said they would use the new sainsburys"... not sure how reliable your data is, given that there is another thread (currently in it's 10th page) discussing how empty the new sainsburys is.
Reply ID 89340
quote:No more off-topic comments about Sainsbury's please [:)]
Originally posted by shunt
When I went at the weekend it was very busy, despite there being few vehicles in the car park and the weekdays are getting better for them too. Having parking charges enforced upon them puts Sainsbury at a significant disadvantage, compared to Tesco, but protects Waitrose, who's customers also have to pay to park. As unfair as it seems, and to my utter amazement, this and the new bridge appear to be working and creating a slow build of on foot shoppers. Bike racks were busier than Tesco's were on the same day.
Reply ID 92338
Opening in mid-Feb according to the website. http://leafcafe.tumblr.com/ Anyone know where?
Reply ID 92343
quote:There's also a poster up in the window of the former Caffe Yum shop for assistants for the new cafe cum bookshop. Therefore I assume it will be in there
Originally posted by james
Opening in mid-Feb according to the website. http://leafcafe.tumblr.com/ Anyone know where?
Reply ID 92344
quote:Please post as a new topic (although I appreciate the relevance to this thread) [:)]
Originally posted by james
Opening in mid-Feb according to the website. http://leafcafe.tumblr.com/ Anyone know where?