News
All publicity is good publicity!
Carlton Reid Dec 1 2008, 2:11pm
Although will Martin Webster of Leicester's Webster Cycles still think that tomorrow after a BBC2 hatchet job on his shop?
Can you put a price on BBC airtime? Martin Webster is going to get his fifteen minutes of fame tomorrow night as he's one of three retail outlets given the onceover by Geoff Burch on BBC's 'All Over the Shop.'
Burch rides an Apollo bike and describes himself as "Europe’s number one business speaker and writer."
BBC2 is plugging tomorrow night's episode in the 'All Over the Shop' series as Burch giving "Leicester's small shopkeepers a lesson in basic maths."
Websters Cycles is one of three retailers profiled.
Marin Webster told BikeBiz he has been running Webster Cycles since 1992, said the bike trade is booming, that he's at no risk of going under and that he'll prosper from his shop "until I retire."
However, the TV programme might be skewed, believes Webster.
"They never even asked me how well we were doing."
Perhaps just as telling is the way the series has been titled. To Webster it was sold as 'Retail Therapy'. When it got closer to tranmission time the series changed to 'All Over the Shop', not a title that would have had shopowners playing ball.
The format of this guru-on-the-wall series is for Burch to walk around the shop in question, dispensing sage advice. Retailers are expected to act on this advice and then there's a filmed follow up a month later.
"Having watched some episodes i now realise the idea is to make the proprietor look an arse and [Burch] to look clever," said Webster.
"He was a nice enough bloke but he didn't tell me anything that was original or shocking. We're a small shop, there's not a lot of room to display the bikes. I was filmed in another bike shop. Williams Cycles in Cheltenham has three times as much room as me but Burch was telling me this is how I should display my bikes.
"As it happens we're moving in the New Year to bigger premises and so will have more room to better display the bikes but none of this was discussed during filming. I think we'll be made to look stupid by clever editing.
"Mind you, I went into this with eyes wide open. I've contacted all our customers telling them to watch out for the programme; the local newspaper has just done a profile on us, so even if we get a hammering, I think we'll benefit."
Comments
“Crying makes you look more pathetic”
Posted by: Steve - Dec 3, 5:15pm
The series has shown many retailers who did take Geoff's advice and went on to become infinitely more profitable. The advice given is common sense and only stupid people don't listen, and don't benefit.
If Martin Webster had pulled his head from his arse he'd have realised that owning a shop makes you a retailer - how on earth can you be a retailer if you're not prepared to sell? Congratulations Martin - your belly aching has made you look like an even bigger idiot than the program did.
“Re: Crying makes you look more pathetic”
Posted by: spiderman - Dec 3, 6:26pm
What a stupid comment " not prepared to sell " I've sold thousends of bikes over the past 16 years. You missed the point, the program makers came to me i never went looking for them.They decided how they wanted me to be perceived. If you turn down a free oppotunity to be seen by two miillion viewers then that would be stupid. My business is doing very well, its not my fault that the show couldn't be bothered to find a shop that really needed turning around.Do you think i care that a few in the trade will laugh at my expense when i'm getting enquiries already resulting from the show. Steve your the pathetic one.
“Re: Re: Lack of effort”
Posted by: Going down BIGTIME - Dec 9, 2:12am
If I had Burch in my store, I would have gone all out on effort.. Sorry Martin you didn't use the moment - it won't come again..