David and Goliath Pound Shop Wars

The question I get asked mostly in here,

believe it or not, is, "How much is this?"

How much is this?

That is the truth!

How much are these shammies?

They're shops with a magical formula.

It must cost more to make than what they're selling at -

how they do it I'll never know.

Everything costs a pound.

A pound? Oh...

Bargain in itself!

And some people have fallen under their spell.

Football!

This is the most expensive shop in the centre.

You buy one thing and you find another, and then you find another.

It's just so cheap.

I like a bargain.

There's now a pound shop in almost every town and city.

Bloody brilliant. I love Poundworld!

But for Chris Edwards, owner of the Poundworld empire,

it's war.

It's an insult to everything we try and stand for. It's ridiculous.

It's a cut-price, cut-throat battle for survival

against giant pound shop chains, and now the supermarkets.

They was our breast sellers, and now we haven't got it in again.

Somebody's made a big boob somewhere.

And as customers get more savvy...

Sometimes they are smaller sizes to cater for the pound customer.

..it's a fight to find new tricks to keep the magic alive.

We've saved a fraction by not including any underwear.

She doesn't mind, she's got a smile on her face.

This time...

Who'd have thought ASDA would need to copy us?

It's high stakes as Chris squares up to the big boys.

Mr ASDA Man, have we got you worried?

The little guy gets caught in the crossfire...

I'm just afraid I'm going to lose my job.

It's a big disaster for us.

..and staff at the bottom are feeling the heat.

How are we going to get this stock out?

We ain't got anybody in tomorrow!

Poundworld boss Chris Edwards

likes to make surprise visits to his 200 shops.

I don't know what that's doing in the gardening section.

That's not how it should be.

And it's every manager's nightmare.

I'm just picking...

-You seem to have a lot of stuff.

-Yeah, I'm going to get round to...

facing up, that's what we're doing next.

It would have been nice to know about it,

definitely nerve-racking.

When I go into a store and it's dirty, I can't stand it.

It doesn't go down with me

because it's life and death, where the business is concerned.

This shop is all right but it's not good.

There's a lot of stuff laying about. Are you short of staff?

-No.

-Is staff not concentrating enough, do you think?

Because we've been busy and people do tend to pick things up

-and they do put it all over.

-Yeah.

For Chris, tidy shops are the key to success.

Presentation is everything.

Customers don't want to think they are buying out of date stock

or inferior stock,

it's all got to be well presented, to give the customer that confidence.

It's a mantra he hopes will make his family firm

Britain's biggest pound shop chain.

But he's still got a long way to go.

His biggest rival is twice his size.

US-owned Poundland already has 500 stores

and wants to grow to 1,000.

Considering how big they are,

to keep pace with them is, to me, is like a minor miracle.

Everybody's got their competitors

and you've just got to learn to deal with it - or walk away.

We aren't walking away.

It's a David and Goliath struggle...

..and the latest battle ground is Peterborough,

where another pound shop mogul is arriving at work.

Hello, my name is Zaffer Iqbal.

This is the oldest pound shop in Peterborough.

You are most welcome here.

These are fibre tips, pack of 30 for £1, that's a good value.

All the sweets are for £1.

What can you get for £1 nowadays?

Customers do ask me twice, "Is it really for £1?"

We say, "Yes, it is for £1."

OK, just £1, there.

Thank you very much indeed.

I like it because it's a nice small shop

and I use it quite often.

You all right, love?

-I'm all right, thank you.

-You OK? Good.

We are very friendly and we are very personal,

and that's why they like to be coming back here.

I come for the doggy's toys!

And I like using the little shops -

I mean, you've got to help the small man.

Zaffer may be small, but he's tough.

He's survived Poundland opening two shops close by.

We worked hard to compete with them, and we succeeded.

-Thank you, love.

-Bye.

-Nice of you.

-See you Monday.

-See you, then.

I am very much proud of my shop. I'd like to go on for ever, maybe.

But for ever might be a little optimistic.

Just 50 metres away, trouble is brewing.

Anyone got any questions they want to ask?

Let's crack on, then.

Poundworld is opening one of its biggest ever stores

to take on Poundland's two shops.

Have you definitely got someone on the cardboard and the rubbish?

-Yep.

-OK.

It's going to have over 5,000 products,

so the manager isn't worried about Zaffer's little shop down the road.

We've got a much bigger variety here,

and much bigger range, so, at the end of the day,

I think we're just going to be very, very busy.

It's a big disaster for us.

As you can see we are the small retailers,

and they are the big, huge companies, and they can survive better than us.

I am very, very not pleased with it.

Because I've been working here for quite a long time.

As you know, it's difficult to find jobs nowadays.

So, yeah, it is a disaster for me.

Well, I'm used to here.

Probably stay here, because everybody knows me.

You know? Yeah.

My opinion is, these poor guys are going to catch a cold.

Definitely going to catch a cold.

He can either try and bring his prices down or close up.

This is something we are not going to give up.

-Nope.

-We will try to fight with them as much as we can.

-Yep, yep.

We'll see what we can do for it.

-I don't think you've been in here for a while, have you?

-I have not.

Bloody hell!

It must be a mile from one end to the other.

No wonder we have no money!

Chris is taking his 86-year-old mum Alice

on a tour of his beloved warehouse.

It's a bit different to the very first warehouse

that I had under that staircase, isn't it?

Chris built his empire from a single market stall.

We used to store all our goods in tea chests

on the market, didn't we?

-In the lock-up.

-And then in the lock-up, yeah.

-Yeah.

This lock-up supplies over 200 shops with millions of items every day.

Oh, my God, will we ever sell this?

Well, we sell this ten times over every year.

The secret of how Chris grew this from a market stall

is shared by all the pound shop giants.

The fact is, we've cut out the middleman.

We go to China, straight to the factory floor,

bottom, bottom price, very tight margin.

If you haven't got that kind of facility,

ie office in China, Hong Kong,

and working people over there, you can't survive.

Bulk buying from China has turned some pound shops into retail giants

and left others struggling to keep up.

In Burnley, this shop is one of the casualties

of the street fighting between the three big chains.

Brick wall finish, that's what it's all about.

Look down here now, whoosh! Brick wall finish.

In Chris's Burnley shop,

the management try to operate like a well-oiled machine.

They've ripped and stripped this pallet down,

they'll rack and stack it onto this trolley,

they'll slide and glide it onto the shop floor, and then what they'll do,

they're going to slice and dice and price and get it merchandised.

Assistant Manager Ian constantly strives for retail perfection.

I'm 100 mile an hour,

and that's what you've gotta be in this fast-paced environment,

today's 24/7, where people want it yesterday.

This is all the time, all day, every day.

Does he have lunch?

I have no idea.

I've seen him have a sandwich at the back here,

so - he didn't sit down for that one.

I don't even have time for indigestion, me, mate. I tell ya.

There's no slacking here, cos 99p Stores is right next door,

and they sell everything for a whole penny less.

I'm passionate in the belief that if we provide a service

and we provide the standards, the customers will keep coming back.

Watch yourselves.

Don't want any ambulance chasers in, do we?

We're all frightened of losing business

and that's why we work so hard,

trying to achieve the best results that we can.

Right, Jeff!

Jeff is the shop manager.

He makes sure everything is run by the book.

Exactly.

Sorry? Exactly?

It's just the bell obviously superseded what I was doing,

you see? So I just went down to see what it was.

-This is a fire exit.

-Yeah.

-Fire door, keep shut.

Fire down there, bunch of customers come running through,

and trips right over that.

-No, no, I understand reason why, yeah.

-Just to make a point of it.

Oh, yeah, no, that's fine, that's fine, I'll get these took upstairs.

Well, I don't like it, really, when I have to speak to Ian like that.

He's like a bull in a china shop, Ian,

sometimes he doesn't think of the consequences.

It's the summer, and the weathermen are predicting a heat wave.

-Four for a pound, you can't go wrong, can you?

-No.

I don't blame you stocking up on the drinks.

Even the Met Office have warned

to look after the elderly and all the youngsters,

cos this heat wave, they reckon,

is going to be here till at least August, don't they?

The forecast has given Ian an idea

he thinks will keep them ahead of the competition.

There's quite a large amount of drinks here at the moment,

I've still got another two to three pallets, still,

of drinks to strip down and put over there as well.

He wants to cash in on the hot weather

and has ordered more drinks than the shop's ever ordered before.

The weather is absolutely fantastic.

So I am making sure that I don't get caught out.

But Jeff doesn't know what Ian's up to,

and stockpiling goods is against company rules,

cos it can cause shortages in other shops.

Ideally, the head office would like nothing here at all.

They want basically what they call zero stock,

which is selling out there rather than being sat in here

and collecting dust.

But for his plan to work,

they'll have to flog a record number of drinks in record time.

Yeah, this will sell. There won't be a problem with this.

Well, at least, let's hope so, anyway, definitely.

And if they don't, then OK -

I'll put my posterior on a bacon slicer, sort of thing.

Ian's taking a big risk. If the drinks don't shift,

then this man, regional manager Craig Atkinson,

really will turn his backside into bacon.

It's never a nice situation to have to go into a store

and outline where people are going wrong

but unfortunately that's part and parcel of the job.

Today he's paying a surprise visit to Manchester's Arndale shop.

At this moment in time, I'm absolutely shaking with anger.

I don't like to see empty baskets,

I don't like to see posters missing on beams.

Can we have these cages off the shop floor, please?

There's customers in the store.

When stock comes in, they come in brown boxes.

It's just not good enough, not good enough at all.

We do not deliver this.

And another of Craig's pet hates is managers stockpiling goods.

It's dead money that's sat in the warehouse.

We've really got to make sure that every single store manager

appreciates how much money that can potentially be lost.

Will Ian sell all his drinks before Craig pays a visit?

In Peterborough, it's the countdown to the new store opening.

I'm crapping it.

Can you move these up, please?

Well, it's opening, innit? It's special.

It's a big day for the little pound shop, too.

Zaffer is preparing for battle.

I've tried to bring a different variety of the things in the shop,

what they're probably not doing we will do to get the consumers in.

Since his other rival Poundland opened two shops here,

takings have dropped by 30%.

I'm hard up paying these rents now

I'm far behind to paying the rents,

because the business is quite down,

but it seems it's going to be more down.

This will be a real test.

Zaffer's competing against one of Poundworld's biggest ever shops.

They've cheekily opened it next to ASDA and Iceland

to attract their customers.

There's already a crowd building.

Yes. Some of them are actually ASDA staff, as well.

Have they come to check out the competition?

Hmm...I don't know. She's having a good look, I think she's a buyer.

She's a buyer.

Everything has to be spot on for this opening

because perfectionist Chris is paying a visit.

This is one of the competitors on the corner.

Is that that small company, then?

-Yes.

-Yeah, them who think they're good at what they do.

But it's not just pound shops they'll be fighting

for a piece of the £1 pie.

Who'd have thought ASDA would need to copy us, eh?

You'd think they could come up with their own ideas of promotion

rather than just copy a pound shop.

Chris Edwards is out there now, get someone to give him a leaflet.

Get someone to give Chris Edwards a leaflet, please.

-Would you like a leaflet?

-I would, thank you.

-We're open at ten.

I must say you're doing a good job there. Fantastic.

-Hiya.

-Morning.

It looks like we've got some very smiley staff, which is good.

I think the first instinct is, they've done a great job again.

Right, good luck, everybody.

Three, two, one...

MUSIC: "Fiesta" by The Pogues

It's only a pound so I'm spending what I can.

That's lovely, thanks a lot, mate.

Even the competition has come to take a look.

Mr ASDA Man, have we got you worried?

-Yes, very good, very good!

-Are you shaking in your boots?

We are Britain's cheapest supermarket, though, so we'll see.

You'll tell us anything. We believe you, thousands wouldn't.

But while the big boys slug it out, Zaffer's shop isn't so busy.

It's been really horrible, as you can see, the place is all empty,

we have nothing to do. And the centre is busy, but not us.

I'm just afraid I'm going to lose my job.

No-one is about in the shop now,

definitely the customers walking over there.

I will struggle, but I will still fight.

Oh, for God's sake, we've got a right problem here, now.

Ian's got a bit carried away with the order, he's gone way overboard.

In Burnley, Jeff's cottoned on to the size of Ian's drinks order.

I haven't got the... the bloody people in, to process it.

How are we going to get this stock out?

We ain't got anybody in tomorrow!

-What time is it now? Half three?

-Just gone three o'clock.

I'll just clear them, you just stack them there

-and I'll just clear them, mate.

-We won't get this cleared today,

and I'm concerned about it.

I should have foreseen this

and I should have stopped you from ordering it

when you said to me, "Oh, I'll order some more drinks,"

-but I didn't think you'd go that far.

-Right, OK.

The sales on drinks alone, last week alone,

was up something like about 35-40%.

-And...

-You're not telling me

that we're going to completely sell out of all these drinks,

-because I don't think so.

-Right. Yeah, I've probably gone overkill.

You just...

Pen to paper, you just get carried away.

Right, OK, I'll crack on.

Sooner or later you'll just burn out.

They'll both come in, unpaid,

on their day off to finish unpacking the order.

They're praying the drinks sell fast,

in case Craig pays them a visit.

Back at HQ, there's more stock-related shenanigans afoot

in the warehouse.

There we go - half-eaten bag of M&Ms.

Yeah. It's not good, is it?

Warehouse Managers Buzz and Kevin

are fighting a crime wave in their own back yard.

We know this stuff goes on, you go around and see cans open,

biscuit packets open, chocolates open.

They think it could be costing up to £50,000 a year.

Four packs there just wasted,

because they've eaten one bar out of each of them.

It's a word you used earlier, "grazing".

They just think, "Oh, I'll have a bite on this."

Kit Kat Chunkys, MAOAMs,

I mean look at Haribo - me favourites!

Not that I'd eat them, of course.

You see, that pack can't get sold now.

I know it's a warehouse

and people think, "Oh, well, it's a big business,

"it can afford to lose that kind of money." But it can't.

This is probably the best product that people were eating.

From what they've been saying,

it's got a nice soft creamy texture in the middle of the chocolate.

It's just - it sounds that nice, I could really pick one up now

and eat one but I know... I'm not like that.

Kev and Buzz might kill me!

You do honestly wish, sometimes,

you could walk round a corner and catch them.

They don't get caught, whoever does it.

Oh, yeah, well...

Over the last five years, only three people have ever been caught.

We've had people say, "Oh I'm very sorry, it won't happen again."

And we're like, "We know it won't, because you won't be here."

Yeah.

Maybe they'll learn a lesson for their next job, maybe they won't.

It's a problem that needs sorting - urgently.

In Burnley, there's a storm on the horizon.

Well, that was bad, that, innit? Out there.

Oh, sugar. Well, I didn't see this coming, on the news.

This is concerning, because obviously...

I've probably got more liquid in cans in the back

than what the heavens just brought down now.

But every cloud has a silver lining.

Just hold on one second...

What we like for umbrellas at the front of the store, Donna?

-I'll go get some more in a minute.

-Right.

Alan! I want you to stop what you're doing, grab this dump bin...

..and we need to put umbrellas in it.

We need to put the dump bin at the front of the store.

So you can use it straight away, OK?

-Right, thanks!

-Bye now, take care.

But while the umbrellas are selling,

the drinks are stuck in the stock room.

Excuse the pun, but I'm not going to let this dampen me.

In Peterborough, Zaffer's entered enemy territory

to size up Chris's new store.

Hello, mate.

Good value.

It's not the same quality to what we are doing.

The size of the store, it's a massive big store,

and definitely, looking at this stuff now,

I cannot compete with them, it's very hard.

-Hello, how are you?

-Hello, darling.

I normally see you coming to the Pound Shop.

-Yeah, I know.

-We're always in there.

When I see four or five of my regular customers

who are in this line today...

I know this gentleman here, as well.

Hello, my friend.

You used to come to my shop, the other one, the Pound Shop.

Oh, down... Yeah.

Do you feel sorry for him, or any guilt?

No.

You can't blame the customer,

because they like to try something different.

But what would Zaffer think if he saw these two?

Even his own staff are shopping in here!

Just looking around...

-And shopping!

-Yeah!

This is cheaper.

I'll have to sit down and think about it, now.

It's a disaster.

With so much competition around,

customers are more savvy than ever before.

But is the stuff actually quality, like that grass stuff behind you?

My nan and my grandad does gardening.

They like to buy, like, something that costs at least over a fiver

so they know it's a good product.

A lot of people are going to be queuing up,

and they should've had them ones ASDA have got, do it yourself tills,

which saves a lot of time and effort, doesn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I will shop in here for certain things.

Everyone will.

Just some of the things, they need to look at it again, I reckon.

And with that - he's off to ASDA.

Meanwhile, in Burnley, there's a ray of sunshine.

It's just crazy again, four for a pound here,

-you can't go wrong, can you?

-Oh, no.

The cold drinks are selling like hot cakes.

We've been trading three and a half hours,

so as soon as I've done that trolley now,

I'm going to have to go in the back, look.

I've hardly anything left.

That's one, two, three, four.

Ian's doubled the drinks sales

and cleared most of the stock from the storeroom.

Ian, where have you moved them to?!

LAUGHS: I haven't, Jeff, honest!

If I go somewhere else in here and find a room full of drinks...

At the end of the day, you know, you were exactly right.

And I'll hold my hands up.

Well done for being right, that's what it's all about,

-working in a team, constructive.

-Thank you, thank you.

-That's the only way we can...

-We'll just swap name badges.

-You can have this badge if you want!

-No, no - more money, more pressure.

No, honestly, Jeff, I'm happy playing second fiddle, mate.

We work together as a team, mate, and that's what it's all about.

-Well, that's good to hear, that.

-Yeah.

It's just as well - regional manager Craig is paying a visit.

What I do in every single store is I'll walk round the store

and I'll see where we are up to as a standard.

-Afternoon.

-All right.

Couple of light areas.

I've not seen no manager on the shop floor, yet.

It would be nice for him to come in and say,

"I think that looks absolutely fantastic."

In Poundworld sometimes people don't recognise what you...

what you've achieved.

Hiya, Craig, good to see you, how you keeping, all right?

Not too bad.

People come in and say, "My God, this is the cleanest Poundworld

"that I've ever seen!"

This floor gets cleaned seven days a week.

-It's a very hard floor to clean.

-Yep, yep.

You really can't knock their enthusiasm,

but trying to get a word in edgeways is, er...

You've achieved something if you can get your point across.

You've told me all the good things about yourself,

-what's the bad points that we've got?

-None, that I can figure.

-Nothing?

-Nope.

We'll go again.

Round two.

Next is the storeroom - but will it measure up?

Wow.

Fantastic.

This is the standard that every single store should live up to,

so I will be using photos and sending it out to the teams

and showing them exactly what can be delivered.

I'm really impressed.

I've enjoyed walking around here today.

Your enthusiasm is infectious,

so if I could mould you into another hundred people,

I'll gladly do it, and get you into a load of other stores.

-Thank you. That's good to hear.

-Well done.

Pleasure meeting you, thank you very much.

-Thank you very much for your kind comments, Craig.

-No problem.

When he said, "I wish I had 100 of me and you,"

imagine that, 100 times our wages!

We'd never need to work again, would we?

The day couldn't have gone any better.

Thanks very much, and let's get back to work.

-Cheers, Jeff, thanks a lot.

-Cheers.

-See you soon.

At HQ there's been a few changes to stamp out thieving in the warehouse.

It's not Big Brother watching them - it's Buzz and Kevin.

-Pretty good, that, innit?

-Look, people working all over.

I thought that was just when we were sneaking about.

That's twice we've seen Rob move! THEY CHUCKLE

48 cameras have been installed.

I'm watching him, why is he wearing a hat and it's a nice day?

He's got summat under there.

A really bad haircut.

A bad haircut, yeah!

I mean he's got to be a prime culprit.

You don't get to be that fat if you don't eat for eight hours.

Well, he's massive, isn't he?

-We'll probably catch everybody and there'll be nobody left.

-Yep!

But there may be nobody to catch.

This warehouse was a mess, people eating, drinking...

Ever since the cams have gone up, everybody's calmed down,

warehouse is a lot tidier, they're getting on with their work.

If it stops half the people doing it,

-it's still an improvement, innit?

-This place will make more.

Back in Peterborough, Zaffer's come up with a battle plan

to save his shop.

Look at this - one for the lady, pack of three,

ladies' full brief for £3, actually.

And it's not just big pants he is selling for over a pound.

This clip-on night light for £3.

Quite a heavy lock, I'm doing for £6.

I think that's a good offer for the customers.

Zaffer's changed his business model from £1 bargains,

to pound-plus bargains.

I looked at local store, they are selling minimum 1.95 -

I am selling only £1.20.

Look at that - only 6... £5 this is, only £5.

I am determined to fight, even if I have to get multi-price things here.

That's £2, please. Thank you.

I will rely on the regular ones.

I'll try and be more regular, then, shall I?

-Nice of you, that's very nice of you.

-Thank you.

My message is, to the people of Peterborough,

to come and give me more support.

I'm still here, I'd like to remain here forever

and I'm sure they will do that. Thank you.

Next time...

They've given the bag to that one in the red.

Go and get her. The one in the red!

..there's a £1 crime spree...

I think they should chop their fingers off or something.

Oh, my God!

..and Chris's rivals are even using his name.

You want to stay in business, quite clearly, that can't carry on.