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The quarterly newsletter for Durham University Retail Office, producer of all Offical Merchadise for the University.
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1 www.durham.ac.uk/shop
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Winter Congregation Feedback… 1
Fairtrade Fortnight………………... 2
Botanic Garden………………… ... 2
Getting to know you………….… ... 3
Social Media News………………. 3
Mystery Shopping results…….... .. 4
Howlands New Freezer………… .. 4
English Tourism Week…………. .. 5
Student Shop Sale…………… ..... 5
Staff Spotlight………………… ...... 6
Spring Issue 2015
Issue 5
durhamuniretail
Durham University
Retail Office
Durham University
Retail Office
@DurhamUniRetail
Durham University Retail
Office
Please send any contributions for
our next newsletter
(out in June) to
shop@durham.ac.uk
or call 0191 334 3902
WELCOME BACK
SHOPTALK
Welcome to the 5th issue of the Retail Office Newsletter! We hope you all had a wonderful
Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to the Spring. With fewer events on at this
time of year, the retail office comes alive with promotional enquiries, sales, and spring buying!
We have 20% off online with Fairtrade Fortnight on page 2 along with the Botanic Garden new
stock. Debra is telling us all about herself on page 3 and we see the results of the Mystery Shops
on page 4. English Tourism is celebrated on page 5 and check out the Staff Spotlight on Page 6.
Winter Congregation Feedback We received very positive feedback from our comment cards at Winter Congregation. With the
presentation of the shop and the service on the day receiving good and excellent results. Our
product offering received a lower average. We only had 15 comments cards handed back in to
us but we would like to get more back at future events. Champagne flutes and socks were
suggested as product ideas by customers as well as a Harry Potter wand and bigger teddy
bears!
COUNT THE EGGS! To get into the mood for Easter, let us
know how many of these golden bow eggs you can find in this
issue of Shoptalk! You might get an egg... Send answers
through to Amelia.
2
Botanic Garden
Fairtrade Fortnight
From 23rd February - 8th March you can get 20% off all of our clothing online with the code: FAIRTRADE2015
Debra has been working really hard at the Botan-
ic Garden over the last few months, introducing
an exciting new range of stock. To the right is the
‘vintage heart collection’ with items ranging from
chalkboards and notice boards to tea light hold-
ers and trinket boxes.
Other ranges include the floral song range, the
owl collection and the sting in the tail range which
includes a quirky variety of soaps, gift sets and
gardening equipment.
Kids corner has also been revamped to ensure
a range of pocket money items are available for
children to buy this Spring!
Did you know that the Retail Office has suppliers
that use Fairtrade Cotton for our merchandise
clothing? The cotton comes from India, Bangla-
desh and Sri Lanka.
The communities are given a fair price for their
work and no sweatshops are used. They are
also given an additional premium, which is in-
vested by the farmers in projects for the environ-
ment and for the community. This goes to help
support various aspects of the community, from
education to building projects.
Check out our Facebook page to see a video of
the NUS and Epona in India, meeting the work-
ers who provide the cotton.
3
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Name: Debra
Job Title: University Retail Shop Supervisor
What does your job entail?
I have just returned from 14 months maternity
leave in December and am absolutely loving
being back at work! Thanks to Pia for covering
me! My main role is to run the student shops at
Howlands and Queens and I have recently taken
over responsibility of the Botanic Garden Shop. I
also organise and run all of the events we as a
department hold, as well as organising any pro-
motional enquiries for the University.
1. Do you have any pets?
Yes, I have two guinea pigs called Skittles and
Biscuit and I love them to bits. They are almost 5
now and that is actually really old for a guinea
pig. There has been a guinea pig in the family
since I was small and it turned into a small ob-
session!
2. What are you reading at the moment?
Reading…..I don’t have time for hobbies with a 15 month old!
3. Which historical figure would you most
like to be?
Is it really dumb of me to say I honestly can’t think of anyone apart from Henry VIII????
4. What was your best subject at school?
My best subject at school was Maths. I was
actually awarded the highest mark in the school,
only 3 marks away from an A* (cough…..swot!)
5. What did you want to be when you were a
child?
From a young age I always wanted to be a vet. I
had a lot of work experience in different veteri-
nary practices and all was going great until I
realised I had an awful fear of worms, caterpil-
lars and creepy crawlies! I then changed my
mind to a lawyer and was awarded a 2:1 degree
in law at Northumbria University. Jobs in this
sector are hard to come by though but I am quite
happy at the minute working for Durham Univer-
sity Retail Office.
6. Where will you be going for your next holi-
day?
I am going to a holiday park in Morecambe Bay
for a week in April. A week full of action packed
‘Butlins type’ activity for Alysia should be great
fun! We are then planning on going to Majorca in
September which will actually be our first family
holiday abroad!
7. What is your favourite drink?
Three words…..gin and tonic!
8. What skill or talent would you most like to
acquire?
I would love to be able to sing! Nursery rhymes
at playgroup with a voice like mine can be highly
embarrassing!
9. What’s your greatest vice?
This answer probably comes from my husband
mind but I am so impatient and I have to have
everything done yesterday! I like to think that I
am a very organised person and like to plan,
prepare and do everything with plenty of time to
spare. Whether this is a strength or a weakness
who knows but when you want the husband to
empty the bin, this must be now not next
week!!!!
10. What’s your favourite film?
Believe it or not my favourite film of all time is
Sister Act. It is just such a happy film and I have
loved it from a young age.
11. Do you have any nicknames?
Nothing exciting really other than Debs and
Deb….not Debbie though, I repeat my name is
not Debbie!
12. What’s your favourite place in the world?
Easy…bed! A close second would have to be
Malta. Me and my husband went there a few
years ago and it is such a beautiful place. We
are hoping to go back next year.
13. What one item would you take to a desert
island?
Oooo, a hard one. This would have to be a bag
full of chocolate (a big bag!) Oooo, can I hide a
mascara in there as well? Another essential I
find it hard to live without!
14. What would be your ideal day?
My ideal day would start off with a chat with
Justin Timberlake… (obviously!) Then a nice
meal with my husband and daughter and then
ending it with a lovely family party with lots or
Prosecco!
15. What achievement are you most proud
of?
I am most proud of my daughter Alysia. She
means the world to me and is such a clever,
happy and fun little character. I am so proud to
have her in my life and would not change her for
the world!
SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS
We have been working hard
on expanding our social media
reach by increasing the num-
ber of platforms we are on.
We now have a Google+ page,
so make sure you add us into
one of your circles or give us a
follow!
The Retail Office now has a
Hootsuite account, thanks to
the help of Rachel Smith, the
Library Communications and
Marketing Officer. She has
helped advise us on posting
techniques and the functions
of Hootsuite. Thank you Ra-
chel!
Hootsuite is a Social Media
platform that allows you to
schedule the posts you make
which means you should see
us posting at weekends even
though we are not in the office!
We are continuing to increase
our following on both Face-
book and Twitter, and (at the
point of writing) we have a
fantastic 273 ‘Likes’ on Face-
book and 512 followers on
Twitter, if you’re not one of
them please do take a look at
the pages. Help us get to 300
Likes by suggesting us to your
friends!
Durham University
Retail Office
Durham University
Retail Office
@DurhamUniRetail
Durham University
Retail Office
4
As you may know, the latest round of mystery shopping has recently taken place and we are pleased to report some positive results.
We had two mystery shoppers go around each outlet (except the Botanic Gardens which only had one shopper) and assess the shops
across 5 areas: Entering the store, Browsing the store, Customer Service, Marketing and Overall Experience. We are pleased to re-
port that there has been an increase in the number of ’excellent’ results achieved across all outlets!
Mystery shopper results are very subjective and people mark them very differently. It is worth remembering that the same two people
did not go around every shop, making it difficult to compare between outlets. It is not the purpose of this mystery shop to offer a com-
parison between outlets because they all offer very different services and are located in very different locations. It is more useful to
enable each outlet to look at its previous results and see what they can learn from and what they can be encouraged about! I f you
would like a copy of your mystery shop with all of the ratings and comments then please drop Amelia an e-mail at:
amelia.monks@durham.ac.uk
MYSTERY SHOPPING RESULTS
SALES!
Our 2 week January sale
was a roaring success
with sales up by 46% com-
pared to the previous two
weeks!
New Freezer
at Howlands !
GREAT NEWS!
We have a new freezer at our Howlands Shop! After several months of our freezer unfortunate-ly being out of action we now have a replacement ! This is now filled with exciting goodies such as burgers, pizzas, ice cream, sau-sages, chicken, chips and more!
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OrientalMuseum
PGL Shop BotanicGarden
WHSVC Howlands Queens
Nu
mb
er
of
sco
res
in t
his
ra
ng
e
Below Average
Average
Good
Excellent
2014 February
Mystery Shop
Results
2015 February
Mystery Shop
Results
5
Free Entry to the Botanic Garden 10:00am to 5:00pm
Free Entry to Palace Green Library 10:00am to 4:30pm Free entry to the exhibitions "Vietnam: A Nation, not a War" and "On Seeing the Author: Por-traits in Libraries from Antiquity to the Present". World Heritage Site Tours 11.00am and 1.30pm Free tours of the World Heritage Site. Places are limited and must be pre-booked.
We have a new range of stock at the Botanic Gardens so don’t miss your chance to get a beautiful Mother’s Day gift!
20% OFF SALE AT HOWLANDS AND QUEENS SHOP
The student shops at Josephine Butler College and Queens Campus are having a 20% off sale for all Official Durham University Merchandise clothing ranges. It is lasting for 4 weeks until the end of term with different clothing items on offer each week, with the first sale starting Monday 16th February!
Week 1 (16/2 - 22/2) Hoodies
Week 2 (23/2 – 1/3) Tops
Week 3 (2/3 – 8/3) Bottoms
Week 4 (9/3 – 15/3) Hoodies again
This is being advertised far and wide so lets work together to get the word out and get those tills ringing!
Look out for English Tourism Week from 14th to 22nd March 2015. Multiple
events will be taking place throughout the week at various Durham University visitor attractions.
The following offers will also be available on 29th March to celeb
rate English Tourism:
Durham Castle Tours
Free tour of Durham Castle. Tours will take place on the hour from 10am until 4pm.
Places are limited and must be pre-booked.
Free Entry to the Oriental
Museum
12:00pm to 5:00pm Includes Easter gallery trail.
6 www.durham.ac.uk/shop
Durham University Retail Office
Mountjoy Centre, Maple Wing
Stockton Road
Durham
DH1 3LE
Phone: 0191 334 3902
E-mail: shop@durham.ac.uk
Our staff have been very busy these past few months and here are a few achievements that
we are proud to share:
Susan Howden and Karen Carass. The Retail Office would like to say a special
thank you to Susan and Karen from our Queens Shop for all of their hard work during the
sale. They really are pushing the sales to beat all of our targets!
Jayne Setchell. Thank you to Jayne who attended a world host training day, giving her
lots of information about Durham and the importance of customer service. She met with
others who work in tourism in County Durham and is bringing all of the skills learnt back into
her role within PGL shop!
As ever there is lots going on
across the University… here is a
quick glance at some of the high-
lights coming soon:
5th March - Chinese New Year
Lantern Festival at the Oriental
Museum
8th March - Holi Festival at the
Oriental Museum
14th March - Make a present for
Mothers Day at the Botanic Gar-
den
21st - 22nd March - Celebrate
world poetry day with Palace
Green Library .
28th March - 12th April - Chick
Challenge ad Easter Gallery Trail
at the Oriental Museum.
COMING UP…
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
STAFF RECOGNITION AWARDS
The Recognition Awards is an annual event that we all look forward
to, an opportunity for departments to come together and celebrate the
successes of University Retail, Event Durham and Catering. It is a
key celebration event in everyone's calendar! The evening started with
some complimentary bubbly and a yummy buffet provided by the ca-
tering team.
Vicky acted as a judge this year and said “It was so difficult to choose
as everyone has worked so hard!”
This year we brought home 2 certificates for individuals who were
highly commended and 1 category winner! We couldn’t have been
happier! We had a great night celebrating our departments’ success
and enjoying the music!
We hope to carry on these successes into next year, and thank every-
one for their commitment to their work and for giving so much support
to each other at the ceremony.
The following individuals received recognition:
Jayne Setchell (from PGL Shop) was highly commended in “Upseller of the Year
Award” (picture below).
Lesley King (from PGL Shop) was highly commended in “Best Customer Service Award”
Laura Eglinton (from Howlands Shop) was Winner in “Behind the Scenes
Award” (picture above).
Congratulations again!!!
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