SUCCESS AT THE END OF THE DAY
Retailer competes against the biggies
Retailer Greg Butler of Christmas Discounters competes against the biggies
As an independent discount retail owner and operator, Greg Butler of Christmas Discounters competes against the big companies.
But as he explains, “you can’t shrivel up in a corner and think you can’t compete with them.” If you do that, then “you’re done.”
Butler grew up in Miminegash and now operates the business out of Stratford. In 1992, he got involved in the discount retail industry as an owner/operator of some chain stores. He had a partner in the business, and sold his shares to go into business for himself.
Butler opened the first Christmas Discounters stores in 2006 in Sherwood and Montague. Both were “pop up” stores for the Christmas season. The business has now grown to 11 stores in P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Eight of the stores are seasonal, including one in the Charlottetown Mall that opened in late September. The three year-round stores are in Montague, Moncton, N.B., and an expanded store in Summerside.
Butler is already looking ahead to 2018 with plans to add two new year-round stores, including one in Charlottetown next summer.
Butler sat down this week with The Guardian to talk about the discount retail industry on P.E.I.
Q: What does the growing discount retail industry tell you about Island consumers?
A: The Canadian market in general and on P.E.I. This trend towards discount retailing 15 years ago, 20 years ago, it was fresh and new. In today’s market, most, not all, retailers are discount retailers. We’re seeing stores like Sears close and Target not making it. So, there seems to be a big divide. There’s that discount, lowerend value orientated market and a high-end market and not a lot in between. And, let’s just face it, people’s incomes just don’t go as far as they used to. People are looking for value. They’re not necessarily looking for low-end or a cheap product. They’re looking for a good product at a good value. One time, there may have been a stigma to go into a discount store, but that seems to be long since passed. People have gotten over that.
Q: As a business owner based in Stratford, how do you compete against the large discount retailers?
A: You have to be willing to operate at a certain size of store so you can offer a selection. You can’t be afraid of those guys. There have always been all kinds of healthy retail for years and years. If you shrivel up in a corner and think you can’t compete with them, then you’re done. Some of these other discount retailers are good, strong retailers, but they can’t carry every item. And, they all have to make a certain amount of margin. They’re owing to shareholders. They have to show a certain profit every quarter on those shares or else they don’t get the investment. I’m a little bit different. I’m an owner/ operator. I only answer to me. My overhead is much slimmer than all of those big companies. And, our philosophy is to turn volume – to make sure the products are priced right. And, a lot of the discounters that we compete against aren’t as strong in seasonal or don’t particularly concentrate on that category as much.
Q: How do the year-round stores differ from the seasonal Christmas “pop ups”?
A: The year-round ones are much larger stores – they’re all about 10,000 square feet of general merchandise. All discount type products. The seasonal Christmas part of the store changes to the other various seasons, whether that be summer, Valentines, St. Patty’s. We did keep the same name Christmas Discounters. We’ve often been asked why is it called Christmas Discounters. We found it easier to keep the name and educate people that ‘hey, we’re not just Christmas anymore.’ We sell all the different categories. Our regular customers certainly we know what we’re all about. We sell everything from health and beauty (products) to cleaning supplies to linens, you name it. It can be a challenge with gaining new customers. So, we do have slogans like ‘we sell everything, who knew?’ to try and educate people.
Q: It must be an interesting experience as an independent business owner to compete against the larger companies.
A: You do work all year round. And, like many small businesses and owners, you do work long hours. This time of year, it’s seven days a week and many of those days are 12-hour days. But you wouldn’t do that unless you enjoyed it. And, I do enjoy it. I enjoy finding the products, sourcing the products, finding different items, seeing them sell and seeing the stores be successful. You just try not to think much about those great, big players and you have to have confidence in your own ability to source product. And, I guess nothing like a little bit of success to help continue you on that path. But, there are some challenges along the way – there’s valleys and there’s highs, good seasons and bad seasons. You can’t control the economy. But overall, you have to be willing to ride out those rougher patches. If you’re running a good, tight organization in terms of watching your costs and treating your customers right, keeping a good selection and good pricing, I find that will win out at the end of the day.