Times may be tough for retailers but one business is continuing to grow. Gerald Voisin told Andy Sibcy about the family-run store’s latest acquisition.
Voisins has been retail royalty on King Street for more than 180 years. The company was founded in 1837 by Francis Voisin, a menswear store opening a year later.
Trade was good, and the business expanded through the 19th century, meeting the demand of a burgeoning middle class.
By then the modern town had emerged, a network of streets sketched by cartographer Thomas Le Breton in 1854 which was as recognisable to the exiled Victor Hugo as it is to today’s shoppers.
Who knows where the French writer bought his socks and handkerchiefs, but there is every chance that he browsed the exotic patterns and materials brought back from Francis’s buying trips around the world. The secret to the retailer’s success was sourcing the finest goods for his customers, furs from Russia, silks from the Orient.
Today, Voisins is the oldest family-run department store in Britain, the appetite to give customers what they want still a major factor in its enduring success. It has been a household name through boom and bust and two world wars, its history spanning the age of steam locomotion to 2024’s hyperconnected digital world.
Today the business is run by Gerald Voisin, who may sometimes wish he was born to an earlier generation. Each of his ancestors seized opportunities and faced challenges, but it is arguable that Gerald has the toughest gig yet. Competition from the internet, a lacklustre tourism market, cost-of-living crisis, labour shortages, government red tape and legislation creating barriers to business, legal minefields and people working from home mean it is anything but easy.
And yet he is expanding, diversifying the portfolio with the acquisition of Fotosound in Charing Cross, a store that has been run by Barry Jenkins for decades, and another big player on the St Helier high street.
With the odds stacked so high against him, why would he want to invest in another traditional retail business?
Gerald chuckles. “I think I must be mad,” he says. But anyone who has watched the evolution of the store will know that he has always liked to expand and improve the offering.
He purchased the business from Gerald Francis Voisin, modernising the shop front in 1996. The £1.5 million refurbishment was followed by a new designer-fashion floor in 2009, and the addition of The White Company, which soon became one of its anchor names. Bringing new brands to Jersey is essential to maintaining the draw of the store, and Gerald oversaw the arrival of Jo Malone London, Joules, White Stuff, Michael Kors, Bobbi Brown and Thomas Pink in recent years.
“It’s an opportunity to take over a great business that’s providing a valuable service to the Island,” he says of Fotosound.
“A lot of their business is about providing a personal service. I mean, how many people go in to get passport photos? They go because they know the team there are really good at it. They know what’s required.
“It’s a business where you can add value by providing knowledge and advice to the customer. There is no point investing in a business if it’s just a question of shifting boxes.
“I think that it’s the service element that’s really important, which is what we like about it. But it’s got to be price competitive. I mean, especially in the electrical sector, you are up against Amazon. Let’s say you are buying a Sony TV, you can Google it, you can get all sorts of offers online, so the price is going to be important, but it’s not the only thing. Once you’ve got your TV, how are you going to use it and who’s going to set it up for you? These things are so flipping complicated these days that you do need a bit of help.
“This is a great business. It’s been going for 50 years and there’s a great team there.”
The acquisition follows the purchase of Le Lievres, which has been rebranded as Voisins Home.
“We had our own cookshop, so when we took over Le Lievres it was a question of closing our department in the store and moving to Don Street.
“We have a good, better, best philosophy which is working very well. It’s been a great success for us. Again, we provide really good expert advice. What Sue O’Driscoll doesn’t know about pots and pans isn’t worth knowing.”
So how will the philosophy of sourcing the best products, offering great, expert customer service and a high-quality retail experience inform the development of Fotosound?
“The store is tired. I think that’s what happens when there’s no succession plan,” suggests Gerald.
Plans to refurbish are being developed in tandem with a focus on bringing new tech brands, especially ones which favour traditional retail.
Gerald says he is delighted to say that the store will become the Jersey agent for GoPro, the adventure-sport mini-camera maker whose products are in the essential kit bags of surfers, mountain bikers, sailors, skaters and just about anyone else who wants to capture the action with big-screen-quality footage.
“Where else can you buy GoPro from in Jersey? If you go online and try to buy a GoPro, you’re not going to get current lines,” he said.
Of course, Gerald knows that the new venture is a risk. “We’ve opened departments that just haven’t worked, right. But you know, you’ve got to try things and then, if it doesn’t work, you get out of it quickly,” he said. “Experimentation is really important. We tried opening on a Sunday in August because we wanted to experiment to see whether there are sufficient customers here in Jersey.”
He adds: “I think our strength is customer service. We focus very much on customer service. And as I was saying before, it’s about adding value to the customer experience. If you’re just buying, if you’re just buying a box, then you’re going to pay as little for it as possible. But if, when you buy the box, you get lots of good advice and help, then maybe you’re prepared to pay a bit more.
“It’s certainly been a bit more difficult over the past few years. You have to adapt your policies and your terms and conditions of trading as well.
“For example, we allow customers to bring things back. If they change their mind, they can get a refund within a certain amount of time, whereas I know Flannels don’t do that at all. You’re given a credit note, OK, but they’ll never give you your money back. It’s about allowing customers to buy knowing that if the person they’re buying the gift for doesn’t like it, it can be brought back.
“I think the secret is that we’re in touch with the market and with the local people, and we try to cater for that customer.”
