Based in the small town of Retford in Nottinghamshire, bed retailer The Bed Chambers was established in 2010 by Lee Chambers after previously working for The Bed Shop for over 10 years. Lee takes a refreshing and unique approach to customer interaction, by organising special marketing events and getting involved with local projects and charities, capturing the attention of his clientele. Victoria Noakes finds out more …
When Lee opened The Bed Chambers, with valuable experience of the bed industry under his belt, his philosophy was simple – to provide his customers with the best night’s sleep possible regardless of budget. With innovative ideas about how a business could be run, and after watching “how it shouldn’t be done for far too many years”, when The Bed Shop ceased trading, Lee took the plunge and followed his dream.
“I guess I always knew I had the drive and ideas in me from a young age – those were perhaps wasted with a misspent youth and being stuck in jobs I wasn’t happy with. Anyone can do it – if you have the heart and tenacity for something, you can achieve it. No matter what age or position you are in with your career, an opportunity can be just around the corner,” says Lee.
“Retford is a fantastic little town, with real salt-of-the-earth-type people who value service, attention to detail and friendliness. I have some great customers, and they reward my honest and relaxed sales approach with their loyalty. They seem to like the fact that I’ve used my name in the store name, and it’s really helped in the direction I’ve taken the business.”
The Bed Chambers stocks high quality beds, mattresses and bedding accessories from both larger well-established brands and smaller independent names, cherry-picking models which have a high quality feel and represent good value for money. Lee states that he prefers to do business with larger manufacturers, so he is safe in the knowledge that what he is selling will stand the test of time. The retailer runs at a high stock level to provide customers with a swift service.
Lee constantly strives to keep the business unique and exciting by arranging in-store events such as celebrity book signings, which prove a real hit with his customers. To date, The Bed Chambers’ showroom has seen European Cup-winning footballers and, most recently, even John Challis – the actor behind Only Fools and Horses’ iconic character, Boycie – visit to take part in signings.
In fact, this month Lee has booked two local models to appear in the showroom – an event which is planned to be well supported by the local press – who will lie in the window display wearing The Bed Chambers nightwear alternating between bed-related actions such as reading, drinking tea and sleeping. There will also be other special promotional activities taking place throughout the day.
“It has been a difficult time for some businesses in recent years, and the ones who are making a go of it with new ideas are the ones that will succeed. The days of shop owners simply opening the doors and customers flooding in have long gone. You have to show some ingenuity and create interest,” Lee explains.
“These events need strong marketing but they pay dividends for future sales if you are brave enough to invest. Every customer who attends on the day receives a voucher to come back and use when they need a new mattress or bed. The return on investment on these events has been outstanding to say the least. Also, the free publicity available when there is someone famous in town is definitely a bonus!”
Giving back to the community where he trades is something that Lee believes strongly in, with the view that you get back what you give others. He enjoys being able to give people the chance to meet their heroes where it may have been impossible otherwise, and also tries to make a difference by supporting local projects and charities – something which he highly recommends to other shop owners.
An inventive way that Lee interacts with his customers is through customer feedback cards, which are placed on each bed and ask several questions on the feel of the product, quality, service and more. In this way, it is easy to determine whether customers are satisfied with their experience with the retailer, and information about the quality of the products can be gathered. In turn, new customers are helped in purchasing the model which is right for them by reading genuine, real-life reviews.
Lee adds: “The aim is simple for me – make sure that I always match up a product to each customer’s own needs. Never think about the money in a sale and only think about getting the right model for that individual. If you do that, the rest will fall into place.”
The past year has certainly been a busy one for The Bed Chambers, since winning the prestigious title of Best Independent Bed Retailer of the Year from the NBF at last year’s Bed Show. Lee claims that in winning the award and marketing it well, he has seen a significant boost in business. “Winning was a dream come true – I was so honoured. It was the proudest moment of my career and something I will never forget. It was wonderful to receive recognition for all my hard work.”
Lee was also chosen to help represent the bed retail industry by taking his place on the Sleep Council’s retailer panel – a group of 10 national and independent retailers – which forms an important channel of communication between retailers and the Sleep Council to help direct and address the issues which are key to them.
Looking to the future, Lee intends to evolve and modernise the business, and very recently had a mobile app built, which is available on both Apple and Andriod devices. He hopes that the app – “the first of its kind in the UK bed industry” – will push the business to a new level, as customers will now be able to receive offers via push messaging and order at any time on their mobile device or tablet.
Lee concludes: “There are so many elements that are key to maintaining a successful retail store. You need to look at every area of the business on a regular basis, stay flexible and open to new ideas, and take a step back occasionally to remain creative. I have so many plans for the future as I will never let the business stand still – watch this space!”
