Shotley Chandlery...

[pvb]

It seems that Shotley's very useful chandlery is going to be greatly reduced in size and relocated to the tiny space which is now the ice cream parlour. Naturally, the range of stock will have to be drastically reduced, and the excellent fasteners selection will apparently end up in the workshop.

Perhaps inevitable - the chandlery has always been loss-making - but an inconvenience for berth-holders.

 

[PaulGooch]

The chandlery always seemed poorly run to me. Great selection of odds and ends, but seemed geared solely for the resident berth holders. A better range of stock and an internet presence would have made it a viable business. Oh, some predictable opening hours too

I like Shotley, a lot, but the chandlery always struck me as a wasted resource, for the owners.

 

[Athene V30]

Like many small businesses the internet has been a blessing and a curse. In my line we tried to provide an internet fulfilment service - hold stock, take order from retailer, despatch etc but even in this area the margins are tiny.

Most now want to go and see / touch the thing they want to buy then go online and get it as cheap as possible. The small local chandlery cannot compete with the big guys purchasing power plus their ability to 'sweat stock' and get suppliers to provide on just in time basis minimising their financial investment in stock. Getting the 'come and look customers' without the purchase doesn't make business sense. The big players have it tied up like Tesco in grocery retail! You cant run a small business and survive that.

If a marina is offering a chandlery then it will be subsidised by the berth holders fees so should stock what they want.

 

[FullCircle]

All true, but our village shop survives and makes a profit because they are versatile, have superb stock and cash flow control and are very welcoming. Tescos is just up the road.

The small chandlery can survive, but needs to offer what their customers want on a regular basis, as well as stocking those fasteners and split pins.
Is there a berth holders loyalty discount card?