Grainger maintains push to be national brand

The Newcastle-based business is opening in Huddersfield, its 12th store in Yorkshire and its 65th in total.

Grainger, a value retailer, has nearly trebled in size in the last 18 months, a rare example of rapid growth in an otherwise troubled sector.

“You would be hard pushed to find another,” Phil Moore, the sales director, told the Yorkshire Post.

Grainger sells new and used video games, consoles and DVD and Blu-ray films. The fast-growing business has beefed up its management team with some heavyweight appointments from the retail sector.

These include Mark Blundell, who has held senior finance roles at Asda and Home Delivery Network, and Simon Peck, a former commercial director at HMV.

They join managing director and owner Stephen Bowyer, who founded the business on a market stall with his father John in 1997, and Jonathan Fellows, the former finance director of the Bon Marche discount chain, who was appointed chairman in 2010 to oversee strategy.

Mr Fellows has said the modus operandi is to “go at a pace other retailers can only dream about”. Earlier this year, for example, the company opened seven stores in 10 days.

In the year ending March 2010, when Grainger had 25 stores, turnover was around £18m. Mr Moore would not discuss sales figures for the last year, but acknowledged that they would show significant growth.

He said: “We bucked the market. In a very tough market we were really pleased with our performance and very pleased with our new stores’ performance.”

Prime new stores include Liverpool Lord Street, Westfield’s mall in Derby and the Victoria Centre in Nottingham. Other new stores in smaller towns include Selby, Pontefract, Castleford, Wallasey and Bootle.

Mr Moore said: “It’s well known that the high street is having a tough time. The property market is in our favour, but it only works if you have a business model that customers want to engage with. Our main thrust is exceptional value.”

Customers buy a new title, take it home and complete the game before returning it to the store, either for money or higher-value credit note and claims to guarantee the highest price. They can then choose to buy a new or cheaper pre-owned game.

The chairman, Mr Fellows, said last year that he wants to open 100 stores by 2013. Mr Moore said yesterday that target is “very much achievable”, however the main challenge for the independent business is brand awareness.

Grainger grew out of the North East and has since moved into Yorkshire and the North West. The company is encouraged by its new stores contributing nearly half of all sales last Christmas, said Mr Moore, which shows that “customers like the proposition”.

Stephen Bowyer, the MD, said: “The senior management team is one of the best and most experienced out there – certainly in our market and also across broader retail markets.

“We now see this as the springboard onto the next level for our business.”

He said he looked for experience, cultural fit, desire and passion when building the team.

Mr Bowyer added: “I am delighted that we are continuing to mature as a business and create careers for highly motivated, talented people that believe in the Grainger Games ethos of delivering the very best value gaming offer possible to our customers across the high street and online.

“We are all looking forward to what we believe will be an amazing Christmas for Grainger Games and then forwards into 2012, for what will be another exciting time for us.”

Mark Blundell joined as finance and logistics director in February. He was previously FD at Home Delivery Network and CFO at George at Asda.

He said: “I have been fortunate to have worked in retail for most of my career and the UK retail conditions currently are the toughest I have ever known. However, I’m convinced that our proposition and total focus on customers will see us continue to outperform the market and provide a great base for exciting times ahead.”

Simon Peck, who became commercial director last month, added: “I spent 20 years at HMV and I am delighted now to have found a group of people that I know can deliver exceptional results going forward.”

Grainger employs around 300 people.

[email protected]