Don’t just purvey the expected

Tyler Brûlé writes a column at the back of the FT every Saturday and talks about his hectic week shopping in Italy, partying in Tokyo, swimming in the Baltic, and so on. In other words his is a demographic most local shops will not have living near them…

Even so, his advice to Stephen Clarke, the incoming chief executive of WHSmith, which used to dominate the UK magazine retailing market on its own, makes useful reading for a local retailer wanting to benchmark his business.

Mr Brûlé’s five point wish list is:

• print is not dead and you should broaden your range so that you are a place to discover new titles and not just to find the expected
• turn down the lighting a bit so your shops are warm and inviting
• add a bit of wood (oak or ash)
• experiment with a few smaller kiosks focussed on the best in print for high traffic sites
• better stationery please.

If  Mr Clarke decides to pass on the ideas, perhaps you could make good use of them