New and bigger Bargain Clearance Centre in Washington

Sunderland Echo

Sunderland Echo reporter Neil Fatkin is at the new Bargain Clearance Centre in Washington, Sunderland, aheads of its opening on Friday, May 3.

Transcript

00:00I'm at the Bargain Clearance Centre here in Washington where I'm with Manager Dean Orne and Orne Lee

00:06and we've come to check out the new site here where they've moved from their previous site down in Albany.

00:11So yeah, what's the benefits of this site compared to the previous one?

00:14Yeah, so basically we've moved to a bigger site. We've got a lot better at the old site.

00:19We had some issues with parking, disabled access, things like that.

00:26So we've now moved to a bigger premises where we can hold a lot more stock.

00:30We've got a much bigger car park. We've got a brand new entrance put in for disabled access

00:35and we can give a lot more offers as you can see.

00:39I understand you're opening tomorrow and across the bank all the weekend.

00:42So what special deals have you got? Have you got any sort of promotional things?

00:45Yeah, so the grand opening tomorrow. We'll open Friday and Saturday from 9am till 5pm.

00:53We'll open Sunday and Monday from 10am till 4pm.

00:56We're going to have lots of promotional prices on some of the products.

01:01We're going to have a giveaway of raffle tickets to every person that comes in.

01:06You can win in-store vouchers to spend.

01:10We're going to have a big prize for the first person to come in.

01:14We're going to have a bit of entertainment.

01:17We're going to have a bouncy castle.

01:22We've got costumes, we've got Stitch, Peter Rabbit and War Patrol coming over the four days.

01:29So yeah, it's going to be exciting.

01:33And that's 9am tomorrow it starts?

01:359am tomorrow.

01:37I'm guessing a bit like the old shop, the theme is giving customers the best deals possible.

01:42Yes.

01:43What sort of knock-down pricing? How much is a bravo that you normally pay into your high street shop?

01:47Well, for example, here we've got the bravo 9-pack, 3-pack toilet roll.

01:523-pack and a pack or 2-packs for a fiver.

01:55We've got 4 screen wash here, that's £2.50 for a 5-litre bottle of screen wash.

02:02We've got empty-bottle, you've got a 12-pack there, £2 for the full 12 cans.

02:09And then, as you can see, we've got mountains and mountains of pop and soft drinks.

02:15We've got chocolate, we've got Christmas sweets.

02:19Then we've got cleaning products, household products.

02:23And then we've got a big garden furniture section we're going to have at the back.

02:29And then a lot of home and DIY products as well.

02:32So you basically get your products when other businesses are closing, does it?

02:36Yeah, so we specialise in end-of-line products and discontinued products.

02:41So we can get them in at a cheap price and out at a cheap price to the customer.

02:46Okay, let's go and have a look around. Do you want to take us on a tour of what you've got?

02:50Just various different items going out now.

02:54We've still got a lot to go out. We're going to be burning the midnight oil tonight, I think, to get the rest of the stock out.

03:01We've got suspension stuff there.

03:03Yeah, we've still got all the pop, all the confectionery stuff.

03:07And is that again cheaper than what you'd get at a normal shop, is it?

03:10Yeah, it is, yeah.

03:15Where's the garden stuff going?

03:17This is going to be where all the garden stuff's going to be going.

03:20So it needs to be unpipped here, so what sort of stuff will you have coming here then?

03:23So we've got rat hand sets, we've got sun loungers, we've got fire pits.

03:27Rocking sets.

03:28Rocking sets, tables and chairs, barbecues.

03:31Will they all be set out ready for tomorrow morning?

03:33They'll all be set out, yeah.

03:34I'm guessing this will make you popular with SLOV?

03:36Hopefully.

03:37Hopefully, summer or winter.

03:39Yeah, we do a lot. We do a massive range of the Spanish cleaning products, which are really popular now.

03:45So that's all going to be down here.

03:47If I can't get in there at the minute, that's still to go on the shelves.

03:52Massive range of tubs of sweets.

03:57Do you do white goods as well?

03:59We do do white goods, we do do likes of fridges and things like that.

04:04It's more smaller products.

04:06Children's toys?

04:07Children's toys.

04:09Some DIY products.

04:13Coming down there, some bits of furniture.

04:16Bar stools, bins.

04:19Baby baths.

04:20Coat stands.

04:23So basically anything and everything, which is sort of reduced price.

04:26A section where we have factories, dog beds, pens, heaters.

04:32And then all the pet food and toy products.

04:35So in terms of size, how much bigger is this site than the old one?

04:38It's about almost twice as big as the old site.

04:41Right.

04:42So I'm guessing you get twice as much stock in as well?

04:44We get twice as much stock on the shop floor as we do in the warehouse as well.

04:48And part of the issue I've been myself is only a small car park.

04:51How many spaces have you got out the front here?

04:53We've got 50 spaces out the front here.

04:55And as you mentioned, also good for wheelchair access.

04:58Yes, we've had the path lowered and the drop curb put in so we can get wheelchair access.

05:03We now have trolleys and flatbed trolleys as well for everyone taking all the pop.

05:09So it's a lot better for the customer.

05:11So excited about tomorrow then?

05:13Yeah, really excited.

05:14It's been a hard two months putting everything together and getting everything in place,

05:20getting the building ready before we got the initial stock in.

05:23But we'll be there tomorrow.

05:26I'm guessing the demand must be there because obviously you're a business.

05:29And you also must have done well to move to somewhere twice as big.

05:31Yes, yeah.

05:32We find we were getting a lot more customers and the issue was maybe the car park.

05:37So we just couldn't handle the volume of customers that were coming in.

05:41Because these days everybody wants a bargain.

05:43It obviously costs living at the moment.

05:45It's particularly important now that you're making a lot of people good deals.

05:47Yes, yeah.

05:50So excited then tomorrow?

05:51Yes, yes.

05:52Got a message for everyone?

05:53Get yourself announced?

05:54Get yourselves announced.

05:55First customer's going to be in for a surprise.

05:57And we'll be giving raffle tickets out every day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

06:02And we will be doing three prizes a day.

06:05And they'll be drawn as soon as we close.

06:08We'll draw it and we'll post it on social media.

06:11So you'll be in for in-store vouchers.

06:14Three in-store vouchers, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

06:17So get in, grab an absolute bargain and hopefully win a prize as well.

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