After doing around £1 million in sales last year, CLS Travel owner Clare Stege thought it would be “a better investment” to open a shop so began hunting for a premises.
She also factored into her decision how many InteleTravel homeworkers there are now, how much support she gets from her consortium The Travel Network Group (TTNG) and how car manufacturer Rolls-Royce’s main UK office is around a mile away from her shop in a suburb of Derby called Littleover.
Stege told TTG: “Last year, I did around the £1 million mark in sales, but I started to find Facebook really tricky because it charges a crazy amount of money for advertising.
“I thought, 'so long as the rent is not too high', and then an opportunity came up in April. There’s really good footfall here because it’s next to a pub and opposite a community centre.”
A chance meeting on a walk
Stege confirmed she pays “exactly the same” amount in rent as she spent on Facebook advertising. “I really think paying rent on this place is a better investment," she insisted. "I’m just paying rent on a two-year lease and bills – electricity and WiFi.
“I met the former owner of the premises on a dog walk. Fortunately, I knew the landlord so I snapped it up. It’s got seven full length windows on two roads.”
Asked if she plans to hire any staff to work in the shop, Stege said: “I do not want to recruit any staff. I just want to do what I’ve been doing at home but in a shop and compete with online. “It’s all about having visibility and being able to display our offers."
Stege, though, has enlisted her husband Rod to work in the shop. The former Natwest regional director has been working tirelessly throughout August to get the shop ready for when the schools reopen.
On her husband’s decorating skills, Stege said: “Rod did our house extension a few years ago – he’s a good egg. It’s handy because we’ve been able to do everything ourselves which has saved time and money.”
She added: “In terms of cost, we’ve just tried to keep it as cost effective as possible. I’ve bought pretty much everything from Facebook Marketplace. We also bought a cabinet for £30 from a car showroom that’s perfect for brochure storage. Our signs were our biggest cost.
“I even found some beautiful prints online of cities for less than £10 and a trip to Ikea for artificial plants and frames. We both have quite creative brains, so it has been really easy and good fun to put our stamp on it.”
'Some customers need face-to-face help'
However, Stege revealed not everything has been plain sailing. She joked: “Rod said he would come and work for me but he didn’t turn up on his first day so I’ve now put him on a performance review. I didn’t know where he was. I took a photo of his empty seat. Fortunately, he did come back on his second day.”
Stege’s husband, perhaps to ease any lingering tensions, shared a video with his wife, which show two cardboard signs on their desks – one saying “Boss” and the other saying “Apprentice” in his workspace.
The shop was soft launched on Monday (25 August) and already Stege’s customers have said how appreciative they are that she now has a physical CLS Travel branch.
CLS Travel owner Clare Stege bought most of furniture from Facebook Market Place (Credit: CLS Travel)
“One of the biggest bits of feedback I’ve got from customers is the older ones among them saying that they could not do it online,” she added. “That is key. I still feel that customers aged 55 and above like face-to-face help with their travel plans.”
Stege said the official opening of CLS Travel’s first-ever branch is still “a couple of weeks” away, with TTNG sales manager Kai-yin Knapp and chief executive Gary Lewis expected to attend.
"I’m currently sending an email to all of our 800 existing customers,” she continued. “We want to drum up some interest in the opening. I’ve probably got more than 800 customers to be honest, it’s probably closer to 1,200-1,500.”
