In the latest episode of Retail Insight for Spring Fair, iconic fashion designer and podcast host Jeff Banks, chatted to Samantha Gibbs, owner of three award winning bricks and mortar Nest stores in Stoneygate, Stoughton Grange and Thurlaston Garden Centre in Leicester.
Having started out as a potter and designer in 2002, Samantha looked backwards and forwards at her long career in retail and the crucial role that Spring Fair has played.
Having originally opened Nest 22 years ago as a contemporary art gallery selling handmade crafts – ceramics, glass, jewellery and wood – Samantha quickly realised that what her customers were looking for product. “At that point, they didn’t appreciate the notion of buying handmade and local,” she told Jeff. “So over the ensuing years, Nest has become a contemporary gift shop that always offers a nod to contemporary and British where possible, but always with a gifting slant, giving the customers what they want, within the umbrella of what we enjoy selling.”
Wearing her buyer’s hat, Samantha personally buys everything for the stores. “I love buying,” she told Jeff, “but there is a mix of what I love myself and what the customer wants. I look for something that sits with Nest’s ethos,” adding that Nest also successfully designs and manufacturers its own jewellery.
As for the next 25 years in retail, and how the horizon might look, Sam predicted: “Inevitably augmented reality (AR) and AI are going to be playing a much bigger part in society. However, I am hopeful that an antidote to that will be gifting, and that independent shops will continue to exist on the high street. Humans will still want to be humans in a very sensory way, which will include gifting and giving. Hopefully in 25 years there will be a balance between the two.”
Asked what Spring Fair means to her in relation to broadening the scope of Nest, she commented: “When I had my light bulb moment back in 2002, the first handful of products I bought were all from Spring Fair. Now the show is my ‘go to’ as a purchasing platform. I’m always charged and ready to go, and I walk every aisle twice. I’m still there on the last day. There is a wealth of creativity and inspiration, with new everywhere you look.”
The episode is available to listen to or watch as a video, streamed via Apple, Spotify, YouTube, all popular podcasting platforms, and at www.springfair.com/inside-retail.
