Expocentric joins as a parter

I had a wonderful meeting on Friday with Steve Laker from Expocentric in Covent Garden.

One of the things the big multi-national, chain stores have over small, independent shops is buying power. It’s this huge buying power that allows them to negotiate special rates with suppliers, undercutting the little guys that simply can’t compete.

(Often, they screw their suppliers in the process. Steve recommended Joanna Blythman’s book Shopped, where evidence of the shoddy treatment suppliers receive at the hands of the nation’s supermarkets is well documented.)

As a community of independent shops, we are in a unique position – we’re independent with the buying power of our community. It’s with this in mind that we’re in the process of securing preferential rates from a range of suppliers for all of our Unchained shops.

And I’m delighted to welcome Steve and Expocentric aboard – right at the top of that list.

Expocentric will soon be listed on our ‘partners’ page and on your personal homepage if you’re already an independent shop member.

If you’d like to get involved or be added as a partner, offering our members a preferential rate, we’d love to hear from you.

It’s a beautiful thing.