Cardiff Sportsgear, considered by many to be the largest independent sports shop in Wales, has joined the STAG Buying Group.
Says Andrew Jordan, owner of the family-owned outlet: “There are a range of benefits that flow from joining STAG, but I have to say the most important for us is the prospect of a healthier bottom line. There is little doubt that being part of the STAG Buying Group has given us a sharper and more competitive edge and has allowed us to contain costs appreciably. Cost savings have always played a key part in running any business, but it’s clear to us that if there was ever a time when that has leapfrogged to the top of the list of business priorities that time is now.”
Andrew Jordan also cited being part of a wider but interlinked community of interests as a key motivation in his decision to join STAG: “Trade shows are proving more and more important to us as an independent retailer as it enables us to seek and build a closer relationship with the brands we choose to stock.”
Ward Robertson, managing director of STAG, sees the link with Cardiff Sportsgear as significant for the buying group. “The independent retailer is the high street’s heartbeat,” he says. “They are the central hubs of the community and offer a service that is unique and one the consumer recognises as special and tailored specifically to them. It is a style of selling and a highly specialised approach, full of enterprise, which just cannot be replicated by the larger and more impersonal chains.”
