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Temple Sports
Like many successful business people, Malcolm Craghill who runs Temple Sports and Craghill Boot Store has a multi-dimensional background. He is Keswick born and bred, his three shops are in Keswick and Cockermouth and he originally worked in his father's wholesale confectioners in Keswick. But this is no home boy. In his teens he spent a year in America (when that was a rarity) and he has managed a nightclub. Malcolm started in the sports business because "my three interests were girls, drinking and sport and I quickly realised I couldn't make a living out of the first two."
He bought a local fishing tackle shop which he turned into a sports shop. He modestly admits that he got lucky with his timing - it was 1976 and the explosion of interest in sportswear as leisure clothing was just under way. Trainers had become must-have fashion items as much as sportswear. He has moved and expanded the business regularly. In 1980 he bought the shop next door to grow the trading space and in 2001 set up a completely new store. More growth saw the business take over an outdoor shop in the town which had closed down, because existing facilities just didn't offer enough space for the local potential. Meanwhile Temple Sports was expanding elsewhere, with a shop opened in Cockermouth in 1987 and a further one in Workington which they have since moved out of. Craghill's is very much a family business. Malcolm's son runs the sports shop with Malcolm specialising in buying footwear and his wife focusing on clothing. In Malcolm's opinion, "men can't buy clothing." He stresses the importance of developing specialisation in buying as underlying their success. Thus equipment, outdoor, footwear and clothing are each handled by one individual for the whole business.
Malcolm is an enthusiastic cheerleader for STAG membership. He considers that "they are excellent at what they do". The business gets good prices and paying one cheque for maybe thirty invoices makes life really simple. The shops have always had a strong link with local schools, stocking uniforms and supplying sports equipment to over a hundred schools in Cumbria. The business focuses on the famous brands and all the major sports with the Keswick shop having moved into the fashion world with brands such as Mark Acco and Skechers. As Malcolm says: "The sports business is about fashion and the distinctions between the two are increasingly blurred."
The development of a stand-alone outdoor shop was a natural progression for the business. According to Malcolm, Keswick is "the outdoor capital of England." That's no small boast but when you consider that the town has a resident population of just 5,000 and manages to support some 24 specialist outdoor shops (even the local Woolworth's has been converted into one), it looks justified. Other Lake District towns such as Ambleside and Windermere have far fewer. Of course having the surname Craghill gives you an excellent brand name for an outdoor business in the Lake District, but in fact it was suggested by a Regatta representative. Sometimes you can be too close to see opportunities! Interestingly, the two stores, despite being very close, don't feed off each other. They have essentially separate customer bases, with buying for each done separately. The only overlapping brand is HI TEC.
Malcolm sees his core marketing activities in developing contacts with local clubs and, as above with schools. The company sponsors and provides kit for a number of local sports clubs. As well as being enjoyable for a sports fan like Malcolm this is not a time-consuming or difficult part of running the business. Four generations of the family have played for Keswick Rugby Club and the whole family is involved locally with tennis, connections that embed the business in the locality. The greatest strength of Craghill's business is the staff and the company is proud that they keep their people for a long time: four of their staff have been with them for between 16 and 20 years. This builds up both huge product and customer knowledge. Being able to help advise people, to show expertise, brings them back time and again and it makes the job rewarding. Moreover customers value continuity and being able to deal with the same salesperson is important in most sectors, but especially sports retailing where you are aiming for life-long customers.
Malcolm also highlights the company's flexible mindset. They have always been ready to move with new trends and rapidly buy into new product ideas (plus, where necessary, move out of others).
Given the opportunity, most retailers would be critical of the support they get from brand owners, but Malcolm considers that the majority do a good job. He does, however, say that the biggest brands such as Nike and adidas treat the independents poorly - essentially they don't want the independents' business. Other brands fall down by focusing too heavily on the multiples, which, Malcolm believes, will prove to be a misjudgement: "They'll come to realise that the multiples will dictate to them." Quite right; even the biggest manufacturers go cap in hand to the major grocery retailers and there is no reason that sports retailing will not follow suit. Overall, Malcolm's view is that "the smaller the company, the better they are to deal with."
Nor is Malcolm a doom and gloom merchant about prospects for the coming year or two. In general, he is philosophical that this is merely part of the business cycle, but he is also encouraged by news coming out of the local tourist trade. Campsites and hotels are getting a very high volume of enquiries and bookings, promising a lot of opportunity for the stores, especially the outdoor business.
Having seen two previous recessions, Malcolm doesn't expect this one to be as tough as some commentators are suggesting, especially compared to the early 80s. He believes that businesses will need to take greater care with their buying, being a little more risk averse and being ready to sell off stock that isn't moving at cut prices. He says, "Remember: Stock is money."
For new entrants to the trade, Malcolm is genuinely upbeat: "If you've got a good idea, go for it!" He balances that by saying that a well-researched business plan reflecting in-depth homework on a trading area is essential, and counsels anyone to avoid buying into a business that doesn't have room for expansion.
