In the village of Milnathort, one convenience store has been battling the recession with four generations of experience, a dozen local suppliers and more ice cream flavours than it can count.
by Kevin Scott
Joanna Giacopazzi was six when she started helping out in the business where she’s now Managing Director. That’s quiet an apprenticeship, but when said business is a fourth generation convenience store it seems only right that the family is part of the process. “My dad joked that it wasn’t child labour because we were related,” laughs Joanna, recalling the story. Her road to the top job wasn’t quite straightforward however. It involved stints living in South America and Europe. In fact, there was a time when Joanna was settled in Toulouse in France, where she met her fiancé Franck Casonato – a Frenchman with a similarly Italian background.
Then in 2010, Franck and Joanna moved back from Toulouse to take over the business. “At that time it just seemed the right time for Dad to step back and when it came up, well, who wouldn’t take that opportunity? There’s no way it could have been lost.”
As with many shops in older buildings, Giacopazzi’s has what you could call an unusual shape. It’s like an upside down F, with the tills on the left as you enter (along with ice cream and food-to-go counters), a promotional, seasonal and fresh area on the right. A second ‘wing’ a little further up houses ambient grocery, chillers and chest freezers. A separate off-trade section is tucked away at the top-end of the shop. This gives the shop it’s personality and enables traffic to be determined by shopping mission. One of the most noticeable aspects of the layout is the wide aisles, and low-level shelving, which makes the shopping experience hugely open. Joanna says: “We wanted to keep the shelves low and give people breathing space when they shopped. If someone was to describe our shop in three words I hope they’d say ‘bright, clean and welcoming’.”
The main delivered wholesale comes through Nisa – with whom the shop has a long-standing relationship. There are an incredible six chilled deliveries a week, supplemented by one ambient and one frozen delivery. “When I tell retailers that they can’t believe it, but we chill so much of our products that we need it,” says Joanna.
Nisa’s Epositive EPoS system is also in place, but hasn’t been for long. “We’ve only had EPoS in the two years since we took over the shop. It was something I had to do – to make life easier, but also to keep my dad out the shop. He’s not a big fan of technology!”
This enables Joanna to perform zero sales reports and she is also about to switch to full stock control, a decision that hasn’t come easy. “We’re only moving to it now, and we’ll monitor it, but it should make things easier,” she says. “It’s good to see weekly reports, and see what has been selling well – normally our ice-cream is top.”
Ice cream
Ah yes, ice cream. More than perhaps any other c-store, Giacopazzi’s is driven by a single product. Made in a factory next door to the shop, ice cream more than anything else has shaped the family business. When it was opened back in 1910 by Joanna’s great grandfather Giuseppe, the shop was a café selling ice cream. It then developed into more of a sweet shop before morphing into a convenience shop along the way. “The ice cream is essential to the business,” says Joanna. “We could exist without it, but why would we want to?”
Joanna’s face momentarily freezes when she’s asked how many flavours there are, then she smiles and starts counting. That’s the beauty of making your own products – the innovation never stops. “Honestly, there’s an infinite amount, they just keep coming. Our top sellers besides vanilla are chocolate, mint choc chip and strawberry, but with 16 flavours on display as well as the vanilla, we’re changing them all the time and introducing seasonal editions.”
Three of these are currently out for Halloween – Zombie Graveyard (a liquorice flavour, which SLR gobbled down mid-interview it was that tasty), Vampire Delight (strawberry ripple) and last year, a Pumpkin & Peach, with real pumpkin pieces. Other seasonal delights include Bread & Butter Pudding, Tablet, Tiramisu and Mincemeat.
An upright freezer was introduced this summer and is the first thing you see when you enter the shop. When you’ve got your own product to sell, and people are willing to drive 20 miles or more in some cases, to get them, why not make it a ‘beacon product’?
Finding time for wine
As well as continuing the family’s ice cream empire, Joanna has a real passion for wine, something inherited from her dad. “Dad spent 35 years perfecting his wine selection so we felt we had to approach it with the same enthusiasm,” she says. That means buying from multiple suppliers, going to and hosting tastings, and hosting meet the winemaker events – which in the past have attracted 130 people. There are few c-stores that have that sort of pulling power.
Which leads to the store’s charity work. It is heavily involved with Nisa charity MADL, and recently gave £1,200 to the local town hall.
“It’s important for us as we’ve been part of this community for over 100 years. People can see what we’re doing and hopefully it will encourage them to come here rather than going to Sainsbury’s or the Co-op.”
The Co-op is recent rival. In nearby Kinross, the David Sands store is being replaced by a Co-op and Joanna is hopeful that it will bring more business her way. “We’ll be stocking a lot more local products, so for people interested in that, I hope they’ll come to us.”
How many local suppliers does that shop use then? “Well over a dozen,” she replies, rhyming them off like old friends. These include Fife Creamery, Gordon & Macphail – for a hugely impressive craft ale section – local bakers, butchers, fruit and veg farmers.
Then there’s the new bean-to-cup coffee machine that’s been installed. It wasn’t a case of picking the one with the best margin. Joanna says: “I wanted a coffee machine, but we wanted to ensure it fitted with our ethos, so I found a local company that could provide us with a machine then tasted a load of coffees until I got one I was happy with.” Sales are doing well, and with hot drinks selling for £1, they’re offered for 50p when bought with hot rolls in the morning.
“We do well from that, but to be honest, if there’s one area where we’ve felt the recession most it’s in that early morning food-to-go trade. We’re open at 5.30 and there’s definitely been a reduction in the amount of workmen coming through.”
A telling sign of the times, but that’s not the only reason the shop opens so early. There’s a 150-strong Home News Delivery service, which Joanna is trying to grow.
A new website is also in the midst of being built and you get the impression little of this would be achievable without having to rely on the shop’s staff to take responsibility. This is exactly how Joanna operates. “ The staff are fantastic – it’s telling that so many have worked here for so long.” At this point Joanna shouts on a co-worker for a reminder of how long she’s been with the shop. “It’ll be 14 years in April,” comes the proud reply.
It’s incredible to think that just over two years ago Joanna and Franck were living and working in another country. Their approach to local retailing makes it feel as if they’ve being doing it for far longer – but when local retailing is in your blood, you adapt quicker. Joanna says: “Some people arrive at the till with a basket full of promotional lines, while there are others who go out of their way to come here because we stock a fine wine that they can’t find elsewhere. I like to think we offer something different and that everyone can find what they’re looking for here.”
