CHP Magazines Winter 2019 #15 | Page 40

Drakes. Pumicestone How long has Drakes Pumicestone been operating? The store has been in operation since late January. Who are your main types of customers? Here at Drakes Pumicestone we have a strong mix of customers coming through the store, from lots of elderly customers to plenty of parents coming in, in the afternoon with there children after the school pick up. What is it about your store that is distinctly different from other supermarkets? A big thing that makes our store different then any other supermarkets is our community engagment, with the store having a kids corner for them while mum and dad shop or you can look at our community library where we have free books for the customers to take home and read or they too can also donate books themselves if they like. We also have a piano player that comes into store a few times a week and plays some nice tunes for the shoppers as they enter the store. What are the changes in peoples buying habits you have noticed over the past couple of years? 40 Complete Health Customers are more willing now to go shopping a few times a week doing smaller shops buying items as they need them, rather then doing one big shop each week. Another big trend is a lot of shoppers now look at buying ready meals more frequently rather then buying heaps of food to cook a meal. What are the fastest moving categories within your store? The fastest moving product in store would have to be our fruit and veg when its on a good special, or the locals don’t mind a cheeky chocolate here and there What trends do you predict over the next twelve months? Trends tend to change a lot with what’s happening in the area with the weather, any local events or changes to the economy, but we are planning on the store becoming more busy and popular with the local shoppers What made you decide to introduce the natural health foods and wellness products into your business? We always try to stay inline or ahead of the food trends going on in Queensland and health foods right now is big so we have gotten on board with it also to show our customers that we have all they need. Where do you see the natural health sector heading in the next couple of years? The health food sector over the next few years is only going to get bigger and more popular with people showing more of an interest in these products. What changes would you like to see occur within the Natural Health and Wellness sector? The way the sector is at the moment is good but I would like to see more of a push of these lines as the more of this we eat the healthier we become. What excites you about working at Drakes Pumicestone? The thing that excites me about being apart of the team at Drakes Pumicestone is the chance to show the locals a new shopping experience and a fresh look store with a great team What’s the best thing about your job? The best part about my job would be the thing that excites me about working for drakes and the chance to speak to new people every day as they come through our great store to do there shop.