Anyone who walks into the foyer of the beautiful new Craig’s Costcutter at Crescent Link in the Waterside will immediately be struck by the spectacular lobby space with its tractor centrepiece.

So popular has it been that many children – and even some adults – have been coming along to take selfies beside the machine.

But what they may not realise is that the tractor – and the shop itself – is a tribute to the man who dreamed up the plans for the eye-catching forecourt.

Andrew Craig says the family started planning the store around six years ago when his late father David was still alive, and he and his siblings Allison, Suzanne, David and Steven, and mother Corinne carried on with the plan after his death.

“Our father started planning it and then he passed away in November 2017. We had the land at that point and we were building the shop, but we’ve slightly changed the design of the shop a bit,” Andrew says.

Tractor centrepiece

“The first tractor my father bought was that Ford 4000. We were doing it up when he was living – he was looking it done up – and then when he passed it was nowhere near finished.

“So then we decided to do it up and do something with it in the shop. I was thinking of maybe putting it outside or whatever, maybe with glass round it, but then the architects came up with the idea of putting it inside the shop.

“So we sent her away and got her fully done up, rather than just sitting in a shed, and we just put it on there.

“The architect had said you could put it there at the deli and make a queue right round it, with the impact as you go into the shop. It’s sitting up on a wee plinth, just as you come in – it’s straight in front of you and then the deli is wrapped around it.

“We’ve had ones taking photos of themselves, sitting on top of it and climbing all around it!”

Family history

The late David Craig was originally a farmer, but in the late 1980s he started selling some potatoes and fruit at the end of his lane, before moving the operation into a Portakabin.

Andrew takes up the story of how his dad made the decision to embark on a career in retail: “There was a boy selling at the end of the lane where my father would have turned in with tractors and trailers, and he said to him ‘Look, you wouldn’t mind going over to the layby at the other side of the road as we’ve big tractors and trailers to get in here’. But he was for staying, so that’s why my father started selling fruit and veg right beside him!

“At the start, it was mainly spuds, and then it was spuds and strawberries from the cart. And then he went into a wee Portakabin – the majority of it was spuds and anything my father grew, and then we were just getting some veg in, and added eggs and it just grew from there and he started selling coal..

“We’re actually a fuel business now and we deliver coal and oil to people’s houses.”

Evolving store

The first bricks and mortar shop was built in the early 1990s, and then its successor was built on the current site in 2008, Andrew says.

“When we started off, fruit and veg were the main things that we sold, and then fuel. When the new shop opened in 2008, that was the first time we had a deli. That shop was a third of the size of the current one, so probably 150 or 160 square metres,” he says.

“It was the standard things – chicken curry and chips, stews, lasagnes, sandwiches, sausage rolls, fries. It was a good size of a deli and they were making all of their own food from scratch.

“I remember my father asking me about putting a deli in when we were out and about, and I said if you go in the shops now, that’s what you’re starting to see.

“We were selling definitely a lot more sweets then and confectionery and that sort of side of the shop in 2008. The difference from that shop to this shop – it’s now three times the scale, and we’ve an off licence which we started a year and a half before we finished that shop. Then in the new shop as well, we have a new petrol station.”

New build

Building the new shop involved a fair bit of disruption. The old shop sat on what is now the car park, so the new shop was built behind it and the old shop was ultimately demolished to create that parking space.

The Crescent Link where the shop sits is now a dual carriageway and attracts a lot of passing trade, but was a single carriageway up until 2006/7.

Andrew says: “It comes off the Foyle Bridge and it would take you up to Altnaglevin then heading to Belfast. There are a lot of houses around it too, we’re right on the outskirts of Kilfennan, and 200-300 houses have been built nearly right beside us now on the other side of that dual carriageway.

“So we’re both types of site, if you know what I mean. We get a lot of regulars but you also get a lot of ones who are passing and just call in.

“My father always said we were green to it when we built that other shop and we just didn’t build it big enough – it wasn’t fit for purpose for the site and the traffic we had and the houses we had around it.

“So once we built it, we were trying to get the land behind us to build a new shop. We just wanted a bigger shop and we were trying to go for a petrol station as well and just got a good architect to design it and went on from there.”

Lockdown launch

The new 500 square metre shop opened on St Patrick’s Day last year when the lockdown was still in place.

“It’s your standard shop, deli, off licence, big fruit and veg section, all your standard confectioneries, wee post office in the corner, a wee ice cream counter,” Andrew says.

“We’re actually making our own ice cream now too called Daisy Moos, that was just done for that shop. There’s a bigger range of deli food.

“When we opened, there was a lot of interest – there were queues outside the door and we had to have someone on the door nearly steady. Basically the first few weeks were just crazy – everybody wanted out of the house to look at something!

“It was tricky for everybody, you just had to keep on putting people on the door.”

Pandemic restrictions

At the time the shop was dealing with the pandemic restrictions and offering deliveries to its most vulnerable customers.

“We had only opened that shop and it was probably 9-10 months after the pandemic started, so there was a month when we were completely closed,” Andrew says.

On the forecourt itself are two double pumps selling petrol, diesel and kerosene.

“We don’t sell any Ad Blue at the minute, but we’ll probably get a stand on site. We haven’t actually got that sorted yet, we’re just trying to get everything sorted at the minute,” Andrew says.

“There are two car washes at the back – just a pull up self service, the power hose and the foam brush.”

As with many forecourts at the moment, there were a few comments from customers about the rising fuel prices but it wasn’t too bad, he says.

“Everybody knows it’s just the way it is at the moment – there’s just nothing we can do. It nearly hit the £2 a litre mark … Especially when kerosene got dear – when it starts hitting near a £1 a litre for heating someone’s home, it’s not easy.”

Stunning design

Most of the interior and exterior forecourt design was carried out by Ashley Lamont of Whittaker + Watt and Andrew is full of praise for the new look he has devised.

“It’s very open, glass fronted floor to ceiling, very light and airy. When you’re inside it’s very nice, with lots of space even in between rows of shelves. The difference between that and our old shop is night and day,” he says.

“We would have had a lot of regulars anyway but there’s a lot of people coming in who really  love the shop. It’s hard to explain the difference between old and new but there’s a lot more space and it’s all just a lot easier.

“The old shop was slightly further up, but you’d see the new shop from the road a lot quicker, especially at night time with the lights on.”

Innovative approach

Ashley says the Craig family had originally decided upon a small extension to their existing store, but when he first saw the site it was clear that there was considerable space available at the rear.

“Most of the difficulty with retail refurbishments is trying to extend or renovate while trying to keep the business trading, because nobody wants to lose the sales due to their refurbishment work,” he says.

“In this case we actually built a brand new store at the back of the site. We had originally engaged with David Craig who unfortunately during the early design stages passed away and we worked with his sons and daughters to further develop the scheme.

“Craig’s Costcutter is a modern store with a dual carriageway setting in which you need to attract the passing customer’s attention within seven seconds.. So the facade had to be taller, it had to have more glass and more LED lighting to try and create a better thinking time, so the traffic could slow down and pull into the site.  That was a technique that was used on the outside.”

Ashley is proud of the unusual lobby with its tractor centrepiece, saying it actually became a good footfall driver for the new business.

“It was a nice nod to the original family members and a nice gesture for the new building,” he says.

To read the full feature in Neighbourhood Retailer, click HERE.

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The new 500 square metre shop, built to the rear of the older store,  opened on St Patrick’s Day last year when the lockdown was still in place.

“When we opened, there was a lot of interest – there were queues outside the door and we had to have someone on the door nearly steady. Basically the first few weeks were just crazy – everybody wanted out of the house to look at something!” Andrew Craig says.

“It was tricky for everybody, you just had to keep on putting people on the door.”

At the time the shop was dealing with the pandemic restrictions and offering deliveries to its most vulnerable customers.

“We had only opened that shop and it was probably 9-10 months after the pandemic started, so there was a month when we were completely closed,” Andrew says.

“It’s your standard shop, deli, off licence, big fruit and veg section, all your standard confectioneries, wee post office in the corner, a wee ice cream counter.

“We’re actually making our own ice cream now too called Daisy Moos, that was just done for that shop. There’s a bigger range of deli food.”

On the forecourt itself are two double pumps selling petrol, diesel and kerosene.

“We don’t sell any Ad Blue at the minute, but we’ll probably get a stand on site. We haven’t actually got that sorted yet, we’re just trying to get everything sorted at the minute,” Andrew says.

“There are two car washes at the back – just a pull up self service, the power hose and the foam brush.”

To read the full feature, watch out for the next edition of Neighbourhood Retailer.

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Plenty of store-owners still subscribe to the ‘square box’ school of thought when it comes to store design, but even they may be having a rethink since bringing in their pandemic restrictions.

Store-owners were bringing in one-way systems to protect their customers and staff, but all of a sudden they were incidentally discovering that customers now visited every part of the premises and purchasing from those areas.

So if you’ve discovered the difference those changes made to your bottom line – who knows, your next revamp could involve tapping into the psychology of the customer to make sure they don’t miss out on a single thing.

It’s a well-known fact that people will naturally look left first and then right as they enter a shop – and that they prefer to move right and travel anti-clockwise around the store.

But while that is useful to know, there’s a lot more you can do to influence customer behaviour in your store, including using the decor to create subconscious cues and arrows that will lead them.

Customer flow

Shopify merchant Alexis Damen suggests starting off by taking a look at how customers are currently using your space. To monitor the customer flow, you can observe the number of people who come into your store, analyse your purchase data and make use of any CCTV footage to create a time-lapse video that will give a useful picture of how customers are moving about and which areas of the shop are well-used or not visited at all.

“Your store layout should help you achieve your retail merchandising goals by guiding customers through the store and exposing them to your products, all while managing important stimuli that encourage purchasing behaviours. How people experience your store is a big part of your brand and needs to be as carefully crafted as other aspects of your business,” she says.

But before you even get to what’s happening inside your store, you first need to take a look at the exterior – you can have the best layout in the world, but if the siting of your store is deterring passing trade, you’re already losing a large potential customer base.

High impact

Ashley Lamont, Director of Whittaker + Watt Architects, says that creating a high impact and strong kerbside appeal should be at the forefront of all good retail designs. This approach creates a footfall generator that will last throughout the lifespan of the business.

Whittaker + Watt Architects have developed a five stage process, starting with analysing the local competition in the surrounding area, investigating the potential demographic of the area, examining how to create good kerbside appeal, a method to slow the customers down once they are inside the shop and psychologically planning a shopping route using effective interior design cues. Employing these design techniques will lay the foundations for a very strong retail business.

“First time passing customer opportunities only arise if the retail offering is highly visible from the adjoining road network,” Ashley explains. 

“We analyse the speed of the vehicles passing the retail site and tailor our façade designs to maximise impulse thinking time for the customer.

Passing trade

“Ideally if we can make the retail offering visible within the 5-7 seconds window, you have the strong possibility of attracting passing customers to use the retail site.

“A large element of the site analysis is about the positioning of the building in the correct location, while also using cues like totem signs and LED light technology to improve the visibility of the retail site.”

Craig’s Costcutters in Derry / Londonderry was a perfect example of a store located on a fast flowing 60mph dual carriageway. The building design had to attract the customer’s attention beneath the 5-7 second rule, and therefore needed to grab customers attention at the earliest opportunity.

“To achieve this, the facade design had to be striking – the use of glass, bespoke cladding and LED lighting technology created the best opportunity for customer thinking time, and as a result traffic would slow down and pull into the site,” Ashley says.

“You really only get one chance to try to attract a new passing customer. Existing customers who enjoy the shopping experience will hopefully return time and time again – however, to build a retail business you’re always focused on trying to attract new customers. This is when kerbside appeal becomes a fundamental element of good design.

“We believe an attractive and creatively designed retail building will unlock a site’s potential and forms an integral part of the lifelong footfall driver for that business.”

Widening the catchment

Ashley says that the design techniques that Whittaker + Watt Architects employed at the Creighton’s Balmoral site confirmed that it is possible to attract customers from a wider catchment area.

“The position of the building on the site was pivotal in trying to create a vibrant kerbside appeal, and the use of glass, cladding and LED lighting technology gives a strong impression that the store is always open and trading, ready for business,” he says.

“We have witnessed good design generating upwards of a 80% boost to trade that previously was thought not available on that road network. This was a strong indication that our design ethos was actually working.” 

Having successfully attracted a customer into the retail site, we then flip our attention to customer experience, and we do this using high quality interior designs.

“We use our interior designs to do two things – one is to create a point of interest which slows the customer down and in doing so inside the retail shop, provides more impulse purchase opportunities which in turn increases the basket spend,” Ashley says.

 Psychological direction

“The other technique we employ is psychological direction of the customer in a predetermined path around the shop. We create this shopping journey through good interior design and directional cues within the shop and that’s proven to be very successful by allowing the customer to have the best opportunity to view all of the products on sale.

“We use material selection, signage, ceiling features, floor finishes and lighting to effectively cause the customer to pause upon entering the shop. This is achieved with high impact design and forms the basis of good first impression upon entering inside of the store.

“If you create the high impact, you automatically slow the customer down. Using lighting and interior design cues like feature ceilings, the choice of materials, the colour of materials you’re using, you can direct a customer on your predetermined route round the shop and they’ll be completely unaware of why they’ve chosen that route.”

One example is the recently completed McBride’s Lakeside in Enniskillen.

“Peter McBride wanted it to appeal particularly to a younger demographic, so we employed modern interior design techniques here – we’ve framed out the deli using striking branded colours, we’ve framed out the checkouts, we’ve quirky geometric patterns on the floors and we’ve got striking LED lighting placed around the shop,” Ashley says.

“Almost every corner you turn inside the shop, there’s a point of interest, and that’s the technique we use to slow the customer down, so that as they turn the corner they have to take a second to pause, creating better opportunities for a purchase.

 Shortcuts

If you stand at the entrance of a poorly designed shop, Ashley says, you will inevitably see 80% of the customers coming in with a clear idea of what they’ve come to buy – and short cutting the shop for that item.

“They shop on their own predetermined route, so you see a very segmented approach to the shopping journey, with people dispersing around the shop going to look for that one particular item.

“You would tend to find that these customers typically have a low basket spend, and that is a direct correlation between allowing them to choose their own journey around the shop vs a predetermined shopping route created using good interior design to help increase the basket spend opportunity.

“There are times when our design approach has to change – for example Green Foodfare in Lisburn. The objective by way of good interior design was to create an interior that was respectful to the long standing trading history of the shop.

“The business has been trading since the late 1800s and our focus was on creating an environment where customers young and old could enjoy a shopping destination like no other.

New materials

“The choice of materials, lighting and signage was extremely important to appeal to far reaching customers 30 miles plus from the site. You can only create such an attraction through creative and sympatric design that is respectful to the past while appealing to current and future customer base.

“We’re definitely seeing vast improvements in terms of lighting technology, the shapes of lights, the various different styles of lights that are available – as well as the wide range of material choices,” he says.

“You’ve got fantastic shopfitting techniques which are allowing us to push the boundaries of interior design. Basically we generate 3D models and virtual reality walk-throughs of the shop interiors, which not only help our clients visualise the design but aid the manufacturing process. With the advance of CNC manufacturing technology, we can have the interiors manufactured to replicate what was once only possible in a 3D world. 

Such design techniques have improved the customer shopping experiences and delivered businesses with a competitive edge over their rivals. With improved trip generation and increased basket spend, good retail architecture and interior design has secured its place within the retail sector.

To read the full feature, visit Neighbourhood Retailer magazine HERE.

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