We have drawn up a questionnaire for retailers to complete at Craft, Hobby + Stitch International 2007, to give their views and help us launch the Association to meet the majority’s wishes. It was decided that, until the Association is able to have its first general meeting, all committee roles should be considered temporary and should aim towards getting it off the ground until members are able to vote for any member who wishes to put themselves forward for the required roles. We both feel that it is important that the Association is launched properly and that it isn’t up to us to decide how it should work. A list of future roles has been compiled that will depend on what retailers decide they will find useful.

Mike has been preparing the website and has already made a start on some of the sections in the background of the website that members will be able to access once they have officially joined the Association. While I have been liaising with retailers and suppliers in order to gain a better view of the current trading situation and have listened to opinions and, together with Mike spent much time forming the basic aims and objectives as a result of this feedback.

I have been aware that major detrimental changes began in the craft market about five years ago. Having been in the business for 15 years, I knew it was going to come to a head sometime in the future and realised that we can all either sit back and let our industry be damaged, or we could do something about it.
We need to focus on the positive things that independents have to offer and we are in a very good position as it is us who have daily face-to-face contact with customers and we need to work together to find ways of keeping our profiles high. We are still the first point of call when customers are looking for inspiration and if suppliers work with us and offer tools that help us and the customers, I believe this will work.

Generally, many other retailers are currently experiencing a downturn in trade, not just the craft market, and not just the retailers either. If we are selling less, we are also buying less. The suppliers I have spoken to are all for helping us, they don’t want us to disappear, we just need to find a way for them to do this and we hope forming the Association will be of benefit to us all – and the market in general.

ICRA intends to be a positive and representative voice for small craft retailers throughout the country, providing effective working relationships with manufacturers and distributors, promoting and encouraging good business and working practices throughout the craft retail industry and raising public awareness about the value of and role played by small craft retailers.

Specifically ICRA will:
Promote and encourage ethical standards and business practices within the UK craft industry
Support and protect the interests of small UK independent craft retailers
Encourage and promote creative excellence
Increase understanding and appreciation of UK crafting by the general public

In future the ICRA should offer the following:
Up-to-date information on newly released products as soon as they are available, and be able to offer them for sale at the same time
In-depth product reviews for retailer and consumer education
Listings for independent craft retailers, with links to websites and a store locator intended for consumer use
A membership logo to use on promotional material
Joint advertising campaigns to promote the benefits of shopping with independent craft retailers
Access to market research results
Special offers and promotions from suppliers
Participation in national consumer competitions and promotions to increase awareness of what independent craft retailers can offer.
Access to product photographs for website use

Getting onboard
Membership of ICRA will be open to any small retail business whose predominate and primary business interest is in the selling of craft products to the general public, whether the business operates from an actual bricks and mortar store or via an internet store. All members must be able to prove that they are a legitimately established business. Some have stated ICRA should be for bricks and mortar shops only, but legitimate online shops have a legal right to join and as most bricks and mortar shops also have online facilities, we are all actually facing the same problems. Many retailers have also broadened their businesses into manufacturing and distributing, and have asked if they are allowed to join, again as long as they are operating legitimate retailing businesses, they are also welcome. What we all need to do is start working together on our common goal.

Retailers who complete the questionnaire and those that have previously enquired about ICRA will be contacted with an application form and final details about the Association once the information received has been processed. If enough members join, we hope to keep the membership fee to £50 per year, which is half the FSB subscription, but will in fact offer more pertinent benefits for members.

Looking ahead
We’re hoping for a good response at Craft, Hobby + Stitch International 2007, we will then be able to arrange membership and begin working on the agreed future projects. However, we must stress, we cannot do it on our own, we need volunteers, so please speak up! An hour or two a month is all that will be required for most roles, which includes back up volunteers.

The questionnaire offers some initial thoughts of the aims and objectives the Association should have, along with some basic guidelines. We hope to provoke some thought and debate about the current trading situation. The website will develop further with input from suppliers, we could possibly offer links to suppliers websites along with a helpful buyer’s guide. Having this information in one place would save us all so much time, we want to plan things thoroughly, in order to get the very best from the Association.