Customer magnet in Luxembourg

The industrial zone in the Gasperich area of the city is regarded as an important traffic hub, located just 10 km or so from Luxembourg’s banking quarter. Many commuters from Belgium and France who work in Luxembourg pass this way daily. A considerable number of the customers who shop in the stores in Luxembourg-Gasperich are well-to-do and, if presented with a high-quality range of products, evidently also ready to part with their money. Since French is the main language in Luxembourg City, only products in packaging with French on the label are available in the Gasperich Gamm Vert store. The store is well-known in Luxembourg; it has been in existence for 15 years, and store manager Bert Doornbos has been there for eleven of those. Following extensive modernisation, the store now has a retail area of 5 500 m². In addition to pet supplies, the garden segment and products for home and leisure constitute important elements of the range. If the popular equestrian product group is included, then pet products account for roughly half of the store’s sales. In the pet supplies department, which has five full-time staff, the dog and cat product groups account for two-thirds of sales. Since a large range of pets was introduced into the store at the end of October, the aquarium, terrarium, small mammal and bird segments have received a substantial boost, according to Bert Doornbos. Gamm Lux is hoping to gain some potential for development from the aquarium and terrarium segments, which are now located in the area previously occupied by the equestrian department. The inclusion of new brands and the introduction of a food bar are expected to increase sales of pet food products further. Selected accessory products are presented in specially positioned displays. The pond business continues to make significant progress in the Gamm Vert store. As well as a wide offering of pond fish and products, the store offers a diverse range of spare parts as its speciality. These are in strong demand among the landscape gardeners in the store’s clientele in particular. There’s no shortage of competition in Luxembourg. A Hornbach store, a Hela store, several Fressnapfs and a number of independent pet shops share the market in the 80 000-strong capital of the Grand Duchy. “We aim to offer high-quality goods at reasonable prices, but we don’t want to be the cheapest,” says head of purchasing Dieter Blatt, summing up the company’s philosophy. The speciality store character which the…