Silly Solly’s shows cheap but cheerful pays off
THE Queensland-based Silly Solly’s retail chain says it’s keeping its doors open as its cheap but cheerful range of products ranging from toilet paper to personal products continue to fly off the shelves in the age of coronavirus.
Silly Solly’s director Steve Watchman said while customer numbers had dropped, the 17-store chain’s policy of not selling anything over $5 meant it was faring better than some other retailers.
“We have a lot of demand for things like toilet paper and personal products,” Mr Watchman said.
“In tough times people watch their budgets so we remain focused on delivering value to our customers.”
He said the company’s margins were being squeezed as the falling dollar made it more expensive to import products from overseas.
Silly Solly’s had not laid off any staff even as costs continued to rise.
“In the last day or so we have noticed a drop off in people coming into the stores as self isolation increases,” Mr Watchman said.
“But we will attempt to keep our staff busy with things like stocktaking if things get quiet.”
He said the company remained committed to expanding its number of stores but would delay store openings until the situation becomes clearer.
“These openings attract a lot of people, which is something we don’t want to encourage at this time,” he said.
The company announced in December it planned to open 12 new stores in 2020, creating more than 200 jobs as it defied a brutal downturn in the retail sector. The chain, which uses the slogan “Nothing Over $5”, has been on an aggressive expansion path after relaunching in 2017.