Last October the wife and I decided to open a Cookware Shop in our village of Hurstpierpoint in Sussex. We looked at 2 or 3 shops and finally got one that is about 9 metres long by 5 metres wide, and then came the decisions to be made about how to get the best range of cookware in such a defined space.

Already having searched for many suppliers, some large and some small businesses like ourselves, choosing the product range was going to be crucial to the success of our business. In a shop where space is at a premium any products that do not sell will be occupying valuable shelf space.

So which cookware products did we select?

Beginning with choosing all those essential kitchenware gadgets, the small things people seem to enjoy browsing around and wondering what the gadgets actually do. Then naturally we had to have Saucepans, we chose to have 3 types, Top Quality, Mid Range and Everyday Saucepans. Cast Iron was always going to be a good seller where we are situated with many Farmhouses around the village; we have a good range of both Le Creuset and Chasseur. Crockery seemed a good choice too; we went with Maxwell Williams who do a good White Basics selection at excellent price points. Additional products include Woodware, Aprons, Bakeware, Glassware and Barware.

All in all we believe we have a great range of cookware in the shop now, even 5 months into the business we are still tweaking the layout and adding new products. Around 95% of everything is selling and well, so the 5% we simply sell off in a clearance sale and replace with new stock.

Judging what cookware to sell in certain seasons is also quite difficult, one thing we did learn at Christmas is that everyone seems to buy their roasting trays on Christmas Eve, and also people do like buying a new carving knife to carve the turkey with on Christmas Day. There are many seasonal cookware items such as Jam Making equipment, Roasting, Pancake Day, Easter and Christmas.

5 months in we are doing well as a small cookware shop in a village, we learn things everyday and are thoroughly enjoying. Stock does keep changing and moving and we think this is vital to cope for our customers needs.