James Morgan of Vertex has taken on his biggest shop project to date – a store of his own.
As sales and project manager at shopfitting firm Vertex, James Morgan has led countless c-store refurbs, but has he got what it takes to pull off the ultimate transformation, and carve out a credible career as a store owner?
Originally from Belfast, James moved to West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, at the age of 15 and had always fancied the idea of becoming a local retailer having worked in a shop as a teen.
After six years spent fitting out stores with Vertex, and working in store development at Booker prior to that, he finally found himself in the position of being able to set up shop. He took on an empty outlet in West Kilbride, that had previously operated as a KeyStore, earlier this year and got straight to work on a little makeover magic.
“When I’m doing shopfitting for other people, obviously I have a bit of an influence, but it’s somebody else’s shop, so I’m working to what they want, or specifications from symbol groups,” he says. “So with my own store I was able to be a bit more creative with it.”
James certainly made his mark with the bold terrazzo flooring, influenced by the hospitality sector. “I’ve never done it before [in a store],” says James. “It’s an older style that’s become trendy again, so bars and restaurants in Glasgow will have terrazzo tables and floors.”
He also looked outside of retail to add a twist to his counter. “We used fluted MDF, which is more common in hotels for bedside cabinets and bars, to make it look a bit different,” he explains.
Next, James added a recessed LED strip light around the beer cave to make it more eye-catching at the back of the store. “We branded it ‘the cellar’ to give it a premium feel because West Kilbride is an affluent area,” he explains.
He opted for dark shelving and refrigeration to give the store a modern look, whilst also taking energy efficiency into account. “I looked into energy costs quite a lot, so we double-insulated the ceiling and chose integral panoramic energy efficient chillers to keep the running costs down.”
His experience in the shopfitting industry meant he had seen bits of kit tried and tested. “I’ve probably supplied 20 of those chillers to other stores in the last few months. I did one in Haymarket in Edinburgh and the guy came back and said, ‘James, I’ve saved £350 a month on electricity just by swapping this one cabinet’.”
Light fantastic
A striking hexagonal light was inspired by another shop. “I put that light in a Premier store at a petrol station in Hartlepool and I quite liked it,” he says. “So we’ve used it as a feature above the counter.”
The reason James was keen to introduce numerous unusual touches isn’t simply to unleash his creative flair, but also to give the store true stand out. “There’s quite a lot of competition in the area,” he says. “The village has a population of about 5,500 and there’s a Co-op and a Spar store as well, both about two minutes’ walk from my store, and slightly further away there’s a Nisa.”
Of course, he knows that it will take more than a few funky fittings to build up a loyal customer base, so he’s gone out of his way to offer a varied selection of products. “That was why I went with the beer cave to make it a bit different,” he says. “We’ve imported a lot of beers from around the world from Spain and Argentina that are selling well. We’re also doing good deals on stuff like Tenants and Stella.”
He has also imported American snacks and confectionery, Japanese confectionery and Thai soft drinks. “The imported stuff has been some of our bestsellers so far,” enthuses James. “We literally can’t keep the American sweets on the shelf! We sell a box of Jolly Ranchers a day!”
Korean Caffe Bene drinks pouches, which are trending on TikTok, are also proving popular. A freezer under the smart Bestir coffee machine is stocked with large cups of ice that the store sells for £1. “People come in and buy a cup and a Korean coffee pouch [to pour in], they’re like flavoured iced coffee,” he says. “That seems to be selling quite well so far, and people are coming in from the other villages to try them.”
Word has spread quickly about the new store and its exciting offer, thanks to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages with videos giving customers a virtual store tour and showing the latest products available, including gold bars of trending Dubai chocolate. James sold 300 bars on the first day of stocking it after posting a pic on social media!
“Obviously, I’m only just starting off, but if you can be interactive on Facebook in the right way with new products, it definitely does bring people to your door,” he says.
Picture perfect
Another USP are the stunning photos of the area displayed throughout the store. “I was quite heavily involved in the signage,” says James, who is keen to embrace the beauty of the locality. He is also eager to celebrate the rich heritage of the store, which first operated as a greengrocer more than 200 years ago. “The village is quite a close community and on the inside of the shop on the windows we’ve got two big window vinyls across the glass with a big story about the history of the shop,” he explains.
James’ ability to create a contemporary outlet, whilst still paying homage to the past, appears to have given the shop universal appeal. “The kids love it; they pull their parents in on the school run!” he says. “A lot of elderly people come in during the day because we’re cheaper on bread and milk, and at night time, it’s more younger adults coming in for the beer cave, the American stuff and iced coffees.
“All the feedback’s been really positive, I’ve only heard good things so far, so hopefully that will continue,” he says humbly.
The biggest challenge, he claims, is that he is still working full-time on shopfits. He ended up overseeing a project 200 miles away in Elgin, Moray, which meant driving the four-and-a-half hours back to West Kilbride after a day’s work, and then putting in a shift at the store. “I’ve been working 15-hour days, seven days a week,” he says. Thankfully, a shop team comprising his partner, family and friends have proved themselves more than capable of holding the fort.
Having only opened its doors in October, the store quickly clocked up a weekly turnover of £14,000. “My targets were slightly less than that at this stage,” he says. “It’s always tough, especially if you’ve got other competition, we’ve got to give people a reason to come into our shop. You’ve got to break their habits, so I was only expecting to be to do about £12,000. The shop is only 650 square feet, so if I get up to £15-£18,000, I’ll be really happy.”
It’s early days yet, but it looks like Vertex won’t be the only peak in James’ career.
