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16
Dec
How Jespers is bucking the high-street trend and keeping the tills ringing
Two dinosaurs have been causing a stir on Harrogate’s Oxford Street lately. They’re facing off on Jespers’ shop window, and have been delighting children and parents alike in the run-up to Christmas.
But what those shoppers don’t realise is that the Santa hat-wearing T-Rex and triceratops are actually a sign of something rather deeper than just festive fun.
They’re just one component in the shop’s drive to appeal to younger customers – a strategy designed to bring the business more completely into the 21st century and ensure its future.
Shop manager Lynn Cummings and director James Gawthorpe behind the pen counter
Director James Gawthorpe told the Stray Ferret:
There’s probably not enough business to sustain a purely stationery shop, and not enough for a purely gift shop. So we’re doing both, and trying different things. We’ve even got a range of little Lego figures that light up when you press their tummy. They’re very popular.
Jespers is a Harrogate institution. It was founded in 1901 as a high-end hand-engraving business and only started selling stationery in the 1950s. But by the time it moved to its current site in the 1960s, it was well known as a specialist not only in engraving, but also in document duplication, typewriters and office supplies.
Until recently, many still regarded it as the ‘go to’ place for pretty much anything to do with producing – and reproducing – the written word.
The shop doesn't just sell fountain pens
But the Jesper family sold the business in 2019, and its new owner, the family behind the Vickers Oils business, has been getting to grips with it ever since. As a global market leader in oils, greases and lubricants, Vickers has traditionally had nothing at all to do with the business of stationery retail, and James, who is the seventh generation to run his family firm (his mother was a Vickers), freely admits he’s been ‘feeling his way’ into the business.
He seems to have got the hang of it pretty well, though. He’s rearranged the shop, installed new, brighter lighting, and has been introducing far more ‘non-core’ items.
He said:
We’re all about longevity. Vickers is 196 years old, and we were really attracted by the fact that Jespers was founded in 1901. We’re in it for the long term.
Jespers is going to keep its core – the pens and stationery – but will also sell a good gift range, which has all been selling really well.
The feedback has been very good – it's really taken Jespers to the next chapter. We’re known as the pen shop, and people also know we sell greetings cards, but now they can come in a buy a card and a gift. We’ve opened up a new market for ourselves.
We’re far more targeted now and we’re really spending a lot of time on choosing the products. We're taking time to understand what customers want and we're broadening our supplier base.
As consumers are changing, what we’re doing is being bolder and braver. We’re trying to find new products that are a good fit, and that’s the fun part.
One of the more popular items in Jespers' gifting range
If James is the mastermind behind Jespers’ rebirth, shop manager Lynn Cummings is the veteran midwife. She’s been with the company for 30 years, but is very enthusiastic about the new direction charted by James since the acquisition.
She said:
Twenty years ago, our best-selling items were very definitely pens, and we also sold a lot of traditional stationery – lever-arches, ring-binders, treasury tags and photo corners.
We still sell all those things, but we’ve broadened our offering, and I wouldn’t say we really have a single stand-out best seller any more.
But I have been amazed by the way things have taken off since September, when we introduced some of the new gifting ranges.
Jespers has stocked games for some time
As James says, though, Jespers has not forgotten what it’s famous for, and remains the only place in the north of England that still has a fine writing display. Its nearest rival is in Loughborough, in the East Midlands.
Lynn said:
If I had a pound for every person who says people don’t use pens anymore... They do! People often drive two hours just to come in, speak to us and get advice.
Pen enthusiasts come in and love to be able to talk to someone who knows about their passion – what the nibs are made of, or the different kinds of cartridge.
Another item that refuses to be consigned to the waste-paper basket of history is that iconic accessory of the 1980s: the Filofax.
James said:
We sell 6-7 Filofax items a day. It’s absolutely incredible. I’ve been surprised by a lot of things, but by Filofax the most.
People try out personal organisers and satnavs, but quite a lot come back to Filofaxes and maps. People like paper.
There is still strong demand for paper maps
Another growing part of the business is its art department, which is becoming increasingly popular with artists around the region.
Lynn said:
You can buy pencils online, but you can’t try them out, and that makes a huge difference. We’re quite unique.
The shop is attracting more artists from around the region since expanding its art department
The trade in art supplies is boosted by periodic workshops, which are always sold out. The next one will be on calligraphy, in March.
The toys, games and those light-up Lego figures may be bringing in the younger shoppers, but they’re certainly not putting off the older ones, and Jespers boasts a lot of long-standing customers. Lynn said:
We have one man who has been coming in every Thursday to do his photocopying for years. There are people I remember coming in as children, who now come in with their children.
One lady from San Francisco used to call us every year for her new diary.
People who recognise me from Jespers come up to me in the street, asking me how things are going with the shop. It’s really heartwarming.
While Jespers clearly has a prominent place in Harrogate’s retail community, it is little known beyond the town – apart from among pen aficionados – so would James be open to expanding the brand and opening new shops in other towns and cities?
He said:
If you asked me two weeks ago, I’d probably have said no, but there’s something going on here – sales have been going crazy – and it’ll be interesting to see where we are in a few years’ time.
'The latest chapter in Jespers' story of evolution'
‘Crazy’ sales and a never-say-never approach to brand expansion – these are interesting times for a company whose future looked unclear when Peter Jesper announced its sale five years ago. The future, says Lyyn, looks bright. She said:
This started off as a one-room engravers, and it’s evolved since then. This is just the latest chapter in that story of evolution.
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