Smart stationery retailing in London

While newsagents are retreating from the high street, stationery outlets are strong. Take Ryman for example. They have an excellent range, well laid out and provide a clear value proposition, a mix of price and service, to the browser. Sure they are part of a big group. It doesn’t feel like it in the store. For example, I visited at least ten WH Smith stores (newspapers, magazines, greeting cards, books and stationery) and received consistently mediocre service. The employees looked unhappy and acted unhappy. (I stood in a line for 5 minutes, got to the counter and was greeted with yes please – geez, no smile, no greeting). I visited three Ryman stores and found the opposite. Happy employees who seem to actually want to serve you.

Standing in one of the Ryman stores I got to thinking about how we do stationery in my newsagency and many of Australia’s newsagencies. At Ryman I feel better serviced through range and price. The store encourages browsing. Yet it’s small – certainly the ones I went to. Their Christmas display was bold and enjoyable. Then I think of stationery in my shop – it’s cold, unappealing and reminiscent of work. The Ryman approach makes stationery, work, enjoyable. This is what got me browsing the store. I walked out and sat in a coffee shop (drinking bad London coffee) and made notes, plenty of notes.

Many newsagents are getting stationery wrong, me included. We get it wrong on range, theatre and the value proposition. Even though stationery is one department newsagents fully control, few of us exert that control. It’s the poor cousin to newspapers, lotteries, magazines and greeting cards. In many newsagencies the range and merchandising approach has not changed in more than 20 years. We need to be proud and bold stationers. We need to leverage our geographic asset better than we do today.

These Ryman stores are a real eye-opener. They have demonstrated how to do stationery well in a small space.