Tell us a bit about your store and how you came to open the business.
The business began over 20 years ago in an attempt to help revive the high street. Dominic opened with his best friend to try a new venture in a completely unfamiliar industry.
Is the location important to the success of your store?
Yes of course, location is key, we aim for London villages for our target audience, but this is a personal preference, it's not a necessity for success.
What challenges were overcome when the company was starting out? Cash flow was the first challenge but Princes Trust helped us by giving us a grant to open the first shop, which was incredible for us, and without this grant we may not be where we are today.
What is your customer base? What's your USP?
The USP for Lark is that our target customer base is anyone, we try to go against the typical boutique model that shopping in boutique is only for people with high disposable income. Instead we try to be inclusive to all people by including various different price points starting from £2-£150.
We sell so many candles, and at the moment a particularly popular product is the cowboy boot candles by Paddywax – they're flying out the door, not only due to the novel candle vessel but the quality of scent is fantastic.
Are you active on social media, and how do you use it for your business?
Yes we are, we are posting reels and posts weekly. We use it to support foot traffic in stores by showing mainly new lines that have come into the stores.
What brands do you stock and why?
We stock over 500 brands as we love providing our customers with a lot of choice!
How often do you change up your window dressings and displays?
We change all displays weekly across all stores to help keep locals popping in.
We've gone into warehousing a few years ago and we plan to invest more lines to go onto our website mainly including clothing as we feel this can be improved. This meant so much to us as we'd been putting our all into the business for over 20 years, making a lot of sacrifices along the way that to be acknowledged for doing a good job was extremely emotional for us. Similar to a lot of self-employed business owners, it can be lonely having your own business and it can be easy to focus on the improvements that need to be made and forget about all the accomplishments you've achieved.
In what ways are you positive about the future of independent retail?
The positive attitude to shopping locally has been a fantastic movement for retail and it's something that we really appreciate and grow from.
What advice would you give other retailers?
In this economic climate it's worth investing in HR services that cost under £30 a month – they provide you with all the advice you need to make sure everything is compliant. Legislation is always changing and joining a HR provider has helped us hugely.
What are your plans for the future? We plan this year to open more shops whilst also improving our current shops that need a bit of love.
Do you attend any trade shows? Yes, Spring/Autumn Fair, Top Drawer and Harrogate.
Yes but we can't disclose locations yet – it's top secret!
What has been your standout moment since opening the store, and why?
Winning the Best Specialist Multiple Retailer Of Gifts award at The Greats Awards. This meant so much to us as we'd been putting our all into the business for over 20 years, making a lot of sacrifices along the way that to be acknowledged for doing a good job was extremely emotional for us. Similar to a lot of self-employed business owners, it can be lonely having your own business and it can be easy to focus on the improvements that need to be made and forget about all the accomplishments you've achieved.
In what ways are you positive about the future of independent retail?
The positive attitude to shopping locally has been a fantastic movement for retail and it’s something that we really appreciate and grow from.
What advice would you give other retailers?
In this economic climate it’s worth investing in HR services that cost under £30 a month – they provide you with all the advice you need to make sure everything is compliant. Legislation is always changing and joining a HR provider has helped us hugely.
What are your plans for the future?
We plan this year to open more shops whilst also improving our current shops that need a bit of love.
LARK LONDON
www.larklondon.com
