entral shopping centre, the ARA award-winning Stormriders flagship has been designed with an innovative fit-out that allows for very flexible layouts and offers a novel retail solution. Wall bays and associated fittings are totally modular, while lightboxes, mirrors, accessory slatwall panels and shoe display panels are designed to be interchangeable and easily moved. The layout can thereby easily accommodate changes as categories naturally grow and shrink, MD Anthony Wilson explained to Inside Retail PREMIUM. “What we set out to do in terms of the Stormriders concept was to make a fit-out that was easily changeable, so the store could be flipped really easily,” Wilson said. “Even the counter is on wheels! So it gives a bit of flexibility with movement.” In addition, the large centrepieces in the middle of the shop are on high-density nylon skids that can be twisted around. Signature fit-out features include polished concrete floors, an exposed ceiling, plywood wall paneling and high bay industrial lighting. Described as ‘retail industrial’, the look incorporates an eclectic mix of fittings and displays, many of which are reclaimed from op shops and flea markets. “We just get quirky little things like teacups or mechanics lights and group them altogether; we try to have that quirky feeling,” Wilson said. “Obviously our target market is kids as well.” Stormriders’ market is mainly the 12-24 age bracket, with a male/female skew of 60:40 (the girls market being a growing area). Located in the food court level of the shopping centre, the Port Central store not only attracts constant traffic, but also a captive audience, with people sitting in the food court and peering into the store. “It suits our demographic, our target market, because there seems to be a lot of kids in shopping centre food courts,” Wilson said. Being the flagship Stormriders store, Port Central is a generous 380sqm in size. The other five stores – another in Port Macquarie (Settlement City shopping centre), Bathurst, Orange, Kempsey and Armidale – are around 180sqm. The business aims to ensure the brand and product mix stays up to date and can quickly adjust to changing fashion trends by constantly introducing relevant new brands. Stormriders’ hero categories are skateboards, footwear, jeans and premium sunglasses. Wilson said eyewear is a key category, and Stormriders was the first non-Oakley store in Australia to feature the Oakley brand’s much-loved Custom Lab. “You can pick your lenses, you can pick your frames and basically just customise your sunglasses to suit yourself,” Wilson said of the Oakley Custom Lab. “So that was a bit of a coup for us – to be the first in the country with that. Sunglasses are a huge part of the business.” Also improving Stormriders’ bottom line is the influx of tourists to Port Macquarie, which builds on a core market of loyal locals. There’s a Wilson Retail loyalty program called The Clubhouse, which has over 40,000 members. It offers exclusive Saltwater Wine and Stormriders branded products that are only available through The Clubhouse. A key selling point of the loyalty program for customers is that all purchases are recorded against their profile for any proof of purchase needs for warranty claims. Getting onto social early Not surprisingly given its demographic, Stormriders was an early adopter of social media and much of its marketing focus centres on Facebook and Instagram. A new Stormriders Instagram campaign features a local influencer as its ‘Stormies Ambassador’ for a month. Positive feedback from the campaign has resulted in a waitlist of potential future ambassadors. Community events also further the marketing aim, and the business works closely with key brands to secure athletes for promotions. In April, Stormriders hosted one of only five stops of the Element Skateboards’ Rumble Down Under tour. The Port Macquarie leg included a team demo at the skate park followed by an instore signing at the Port Central store that attracted large crowds. As well as the fit-out award, at the 2015 ARA Awards, held earlier this month in Melbourne, Wilson Retail also took out the Independent Retailer of the Year category, for the second year in a row. Wilson said the challenges of being an independent retailer are continually growing, especially the need to comply with increasing government regulation. “Just staying abreast of the duties and responsibilities … running a business is not simple any more,” he said. “You have to pay payroll tax, PAYG tax … we’re doing a lot of tax collecting on behalf of the government.” Nonetheless, for an independent, Wilson Retail has certainly etched out an enviable store network across its two brands. The stable boasts 10 stores in total, spread across the Central West, New England and Mid North Coast regions of NSW. There are four Saltwater Wine stores in that mix, including the 720sqm flagship store in Horton St, Port Macquarie, which opened in 2013 and won the Fit-out of the Year award last year at both the ARA Awards and the Surf Industry Awards. This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2054.