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As Fortuna Jersey launches its biggest-ever Black Friday celebration, director Ben Stone tells Emily Moore how the business has evolved over its 70-year history.
Any retail business with a 70-year history has to be a master of reinvention.
When that business sells electronics and household appliances, the need to evolve is greater than ever. But the way that Fortuna Jersey has remained at the forefront of the Island’s retail scene for the past seven decades is, as director Ben Stone explains, in no small part down to the vision and innovation of its founder.
“Our founder, Bryan Dingle, quickly recognised that, to be truly competitive, he needed to join forces with other retailers to form a collective, which would give each business greater buying power than it could ever achieve on its own,” said Ben. “The group that he started gradually merged with other organisers over the years, becoming stronger and stronger until, in the 1990s, it joined forces with Euronics, which is now Europe’s largest electrical buying group.”
Being a member of that group, Ben adds, gives Fortuna Jersey customers a wide range of benefits, including access to a wide range of products at competitive prices.
“Because of Euronics’ vast buying power, you will often find items more competitively priced here than in other places,” he said. “We are also able to offer some exclusive warranties, as well as a quick and efficient service when it comes to delivery and installation. This is supported by the fact that we have access to a warehouse in the UK, which is filled with hundreds of thousands of products, most of which we can arrange to have delivered to a customer’s home within a week of purchase.”
It is, he adds, the combination of these factors which has just seen Euronics scoop a prestigious award for the second consecutive year, taking the Which? Best Household Appliances Retailer.
While service is an important element of any business, Ben stresses that the success of Fortuna Jersey – which is still owned and run by the Dingle family – can also be attributed to its “continuous diversification” and “understanding of what customers need”.
“We have branched out considerably,” he reflected. “From selling just televisions and white goods, we now have a wide range of products including smart technology, kitchen gadgets, home and garden lighting solutions and, newest of all, personal healthcare products.
“While some of this range is already available on our website, next year we will be dedicating a wall in store to this product category, which includes smart watches for monitoring your health, electronic scales, which sync with your apps, and blood-pressure-monitoring devices. These products, from Withings, have taken off massively in France, with doctors recommending them to people with certain health conditions.”
But it is not just health and grooming products which the team is introducing to the store.
“The key to our success is that we are always looking out for new technology, particularly things which can benefit our customers,” Ben added. “We are not just looking for things we can sell: we want to source items which will make a positive difference to people’s lives. With this in mind, we are about to launch a home security range, which includes a motion detector that notices if someone has had a fall and sends an alert to their carer’s mobile phone.”
Demonstrating the diversity of customers to which the team is hoping to appeal, these products sit under the same roof as the popular, and ever-growing, range of Ninja appliances and the G FUEL gaming and e-sports energy drink.
While newness is a key factor in bringing people through the door, another equally strong motivation is a special offer, and, having been one of the first retailers in the Island to embrace Black Friday, Fortuna Jersey is, says Ben, no stranger to bringing special deals to customers. And this year is no exception, with the Halkett Place business marking the month with hundreds of Black November offers.
“This is our ninth year of celebrating Black Friday,” he explained. “For the first couple of years, we ran a day of promotions on Black Friday itself, but quickly found that this wasn’t enough for people, as not everybody could get to the store on that day. It has therefore grown over the years, from a day to a week, then to two weeks and, finally, to a month.”
With offers available while stocks last, Ben added that demand had already been high for some of the “star deals”.
“We have offers on nearly 300 items, ranging from ebikes and air fryers to Dysons and televisions,” he said. “While several of the promotions come through our membership of Euronics, we have also negotiated some fantastic deals directly with our suppliers.”
One manufacturer with whom Fortuna Jersey has negotiated a special deal is Hisense, a name which is likely to be familiar to many sports fans thanks to the brand’s sponsorship of high-profile events such as UEFA Euro 2024.
“Thanks to our relationship with Hisense, our two star deals for this month are a 43-inch television for £199 or a 55-inch version for £299,” said Ben.
While pleased to be able to bring such offers to Islanders, Ben admits that the ever-growing popularity of Black Friday has created some changes to the retail calendar.
“If, as a retailer, you don’t take part in Black Friday, you miss out,” he said. “Whereas the January sales used to be the peak time for discounting, that has now shifted, and the build-up to Black Friday has become the best time for businesses to negotiate deals with manufacturers and bring the best deals to our customers. This also benefits people who are keen to make their money stretch as far as possible when doing their Christmas shopping, as they can take advantage of the special offers.”
And this, he adds, is just one of the changes which keeps the retailer on its toes.
“Retail is forever changing, and we therefore have to keep changing to suit our audience’s needs and wishes,” he said. “Every year we adapt to the next thing, which is why we have been able to celebrate our 70th anniversary this year, and why we are confident that we have a strong future – even if that will require us to make several more changes in the years ahead.”
