South Coast Invasion Pound Shop Wars

The question I get asked mostly in here

is, "How much is this?"

How much is this?

That is the truth!

How much are these shammies?

There are shops which promise to leave customers quids in...

It must cost more to make than what they're selling it.

How they do it, I'll never know.

..and they've put many of us under a spell.

That's a pound! I think it's great.

We're always in pound shops.

I like a bargain.

But not everyone's crazy about the pound shop invasion.

They're popping up everywhere. It's a con.

With the pound shops,

we're all going to need hard hats just to make a living.

For the boss of Poundworld,

it's a cut-price, cut-throat battle for the ?1 crown.

We come to work every day, gum shield in, shin pads on, get on with it.

This time...

I'd rather not have the hairy arms sticking out, if that is all right.

..it's North versus South, as Yorkshire's finest

invade their rivals' back yard.

This will be a battleground, there is absolutely no doubt about that.

Let the war begin!

Head office goes hi-tech...

It's when you want to do a selfie.

What is one of them?

It's a stick.

It's a stick!

Good afternoon, Poundworld.

..Chris's office has turned into a war room,

as plans are afoot for a full-scale southern invasion.

Well, the plan of attack would be if we fly into Southampton,

there is one in the city centre, in the shopping centre.

We are going to go to Torquay and Exeter, Bournemouth.

We are going to go to Brighton.

I think there is 15 to 20 really good towns

that will sustain what we do.

It's something he's desperate to rectify.

We have got to keep surging forward,

we have got to keep looking at shops, doing the deals, moving on.

Competitors down there won't relish us coming,

but it's tough, you know, we will be there.

Coming to the south coast is entering the lion's den for Chris.

between two 99p Stores and three Poundlands.

Chris and right-hand man Mark

Yeah, it is terrible, isn't it?

than what they will ever try and achieve.

This is our second competitor, Poundland.

I have got to tell Jim, if you watch this,

But they are on a different league to 99p Stores.

Only just with this one.

on the south coast and it's being readied for their arrival.

We are quite happy that we have got the corner unit,

so, yeah, we are quite happy with that.

Places like this are all ready for the uptake.

Let the war begin.

as he's a man with a one-track mind.

They're the wrong way round, yeah, yeah.

We have got to make sure that everything is perfect

because if it is not perfect for them in here,

they might find it perfect somewhere else.

And if we are aiming for perfection which we are,

we even need to make sure that that Maltesers is the right way around.

We are going into towns where our competition is

and if they're not ready, then we certainly will be when we open.

Down south, Poundworld faces something of an identity crisis.

We were all very excited

once we knew we were going to get a Poundland here. Yeah.

This is Poundworld. Is it? Oh, Poundworld, I do beg your pardon.

I have not heard of Poundworld, no.

It would be a brilliant idea for Poundland to expand.

Poundworld.

Poundworld! It is Poundworld, isn't it?

Poundland, yes, 99p Stores, yes, but not Poundworld.

Everyone knows Poundland,

but obviously only Yorkshire people... That sounds racist!

But only obviously Yorkshire people know about Poundworld.

Down here, they know that we are a pound store,

but don't necessarily know the difference

between us and any others. We have to establish our brand

and what we are trying to achieve in here.

Up north, there's no need to advertise their bin bags,

teabags and e-fags.

Shoppers are already savvy to the best deals.

Now, businesses, from corner shops to Indian restaurants,

are eyeing the bargains too.

Right, that's 240 boxes.

240 boxes? Yeah.

Maxine!

I own a restaurant that is called Tikka Tikka.

'I always get my After Eights from this Poundworld.'

Sometimes it is cheaper than the cash and carry so, why not?

Yeah, it's all good for business.

That is a total of ?240, please.

Bulk selling to businesses could mean big profits

so Chris has set up a new division to get a slice of the wholesale pie.

We have been asked many, many times do we do wholesale

and we have always said no

and we just think this is an ideal opportunity

to enhance the business even further.

So it is an opportunity we can't miss,

we are going to try it and see what happens.

Twice a year, the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham

plays host to retail's next big things.

How are we doing, guys, you all right? Yeah.

That was a roaring success, wasn't it?

Wholesale manager Nigel is selling

a range of Chris's budget innovations.

Backscratchers are a little favourite.

When you are out and about and you fancy a drink

and have got nothing to drink it from... Pocket Pint!

To prove we're not sexist,

one for the ladies as well.

Nigel's got a tough sell.

Many potential clients are competitors on the high street.

Zaffer runs two independent pound shops in Peterborough

and he was devastated

when Poundworld opened up a few doors down.

It's a disaster. As you can see, we are the small retailers

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

We are not going to give up. No.

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

In here, Zaffer's custom could be worth thousands of pounds...

if Nigel can tempt him.

I mean, I know we are cheapest in the halls with these.

These we sell thousands and thousands of.

Poundworld? Yeah. Really? That is good value.

This is what we are selling in our Poundworld shops,

so it will be the same for yourself. So we're a pound, you'll be a pound.

There is a lot of different stock and I am very impressed.

I will give you a call after the show. Give me a call, please.

Nice to meet you, my friend.

There is competition, but I am happy if they supply me.

No hard feelings at all. Enemies, no way!

Business is business, you know, he is moving with the times

and he's seen the light and he could see he can make plenty of money

from ourselves retailing our items.

Zaffer's ordered ?1,800 worth of household goods,

so now, no matter who sells them on Peterborough's high street,

Poundworld gets a cut.

Chris is trying to muscle in on his competitors' heartland

by opening ten new shops near the south coast.

The tip of his southern empire is currently in Crawley...

I will tell you what, them windows haven't been cleaned for a bit.

I am going to find out.

..but his frontline is letting the side down.

Will you get onto our so-called window cleaner?

I'm here looking at it now. These windows haven't been cleaned.

Whatever we have paid him for the last two times, I want a refund.

The windows on the side are disgusting.

Dirty windows are just the start of his problems down south.

His new shop in Brighton is ready to move into,

but Chris won't be the one getting the keys.

We thought we had a nice unit in Brighton,

but that has fell off, hasn't it?

Yeah, yeah. Which was a big shame.

We have got a lot of time and money invested in that

and, at the last minute, the landlord's had an offer from a bank.

Some you win, some you lose.

And you've just got to stay positive, can't let it deflate you

because if it did, you'd be on the floor, wouldn't you?

25 miles away, in upmarket Sevenoaks,

Chris wants to do a deal for the old Marks Spencer store,

but shoppers are staging a full-scale revolt.

Sevenoaks is a bit of an upmarket area, that's the way it is.

I see no reason why this area should be somewhat demoted.

Why don't they put pound shops in areas where people need pound shops?

If you look at the county town, which is Maidstone, I mean, it is horrible.

It is filled with, you know, pound shops and charity shops

and, you know, really cheap and nasty stuff

and it has really gone downhill.

With 99p Stores already trading in town,

220 people have signed an online petition

to stop Chris's chain joining them.

With pound shops, I can see people going,

"Ooh, we don't want one of those here,"

But it was the same with Lidls.

Everyone said we don't want Lidls, but now you drive past

and it's all Land Rovers, Range Rovers and Porsches in the car park.

News of the unrest has reached the landlord.

Food chain Nando's is now the frontrunner to get the site.

Sevenoaks has fallen through.

We got a deal agreed with Marks Spencer's

and the landlords wanted to put someone else in there

so that one has fallen by the wayside.

The fact Sevenoaks don't want any single price pound shops,

it is just a handful of people who have an opinion

and everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

There is nowhere too posh for a Poundworld. Nowhere.

With the plans for Sevenoaks and Brighton in tatters,

Chris's last big hope for his southern invasion

rests on Southampton.

It's up to Charlie to deliver.

We are across the street at the moment

from what will be our flagship store

within the company on the south coast.

It has got the potential to be

one of the highest turnover stores in the whole company.

So there is a lot of pressure riding on this one.

We've not come down to compete, we've come down to win.

Winning won't be easy.

Southampton has seven other pound shops already,

including their well established arch-rival just a few doors down.

Opening day is set for two weeks' time...

DRILLING

..but you'd never guess, by the look of the site.

There is a lot of dust, there is lots of...

I mean, we can hardly see in here.

You know, it is pretty thick.

The Southampton opening is on shaky ground

because the builders need to re-level the concrete floor.

The floor should have been going down on Monday.

Right, OK. This is, like, three days' work getting it all up.

Yep, as far as being on time's concerned,

you've got to be out, we've got to be in.

There is no ifs, buts or maybes about it, is there?

There is a lot to do. When you look at it,

you can't see a store here at the moment.

While the builders try to salvage Chris's southern invasion,

in his northern head office, things are looking brighter.

He's invested in a fancy wholesale showroom

to flog his latest discount marvels.

Santa and Snowman, yeah? Yeah.

There is probably 3,000 different lines here.

When you have got a good showroom,

once you get people in there,

they start getting into a bit of a buying frenzy,

they just want this, they want that.

Nigel wants to expand his reach beyond other shops

to sell to middlemen like Jack,

who buys in bulk for chains of bingo clubs.

Sales reps never usually try and show you things

because usually it can only go one way, can't it,

and that is wrong. Turn it upside down.

Is this your phone? Yeah.

Only you could do that!

Can you believe that? He has just broke it!

I can't believe it. I'm going to kill him.

No, I love it, I really do like that.

No, no...

They will be good.

I don't get it.

Do you know why you don't get it?

Because it is a young person's thing.

That will be a really good seller.

Selfie sticks are the latest fad from the US.

Nigel thinks his ?3 budget version could be the next big thing here...

if other salesmen agree.

I'm not convinced.

Right, OK.

See, I just see somebody pitching this on Dragons Den

and then Peter Jones just going "No, I'm out" or Duncan,

SCOTTISH ACCENT: "I'm sorry, it's a great idea, but it's got no legs so I'm oot."

You are going to be made to look so foolish!

Selfie Stick - not convinced, the jury is out on that one.

In Southampton, Chris wants to compete

against the three Poundlands and four 99p Stores.

But his bigger enemy could be pound shop fatigue.

They are popping up everywhere.

I mean, you've got the 99p Store fighting against the pound shop

and now you've got a new one coming in Poundworld.

But they are all going to be selling exactly the same stuff,

so what is the point?

With a backlash brewing before he's even opened,

Chris's south coast dream is fast becoming a nightmare.

So he's flown in to convince Southampton

that pound shop number eight will be different to the previous seven.

Hello, Chris, how are you? I'm all right, thank you, are you?

Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Where do you want me to sit?

If you sit there...

which I have called Poundland about three times this morning already.

I'm off! That's it, I'm off!

They were, yeah.

And you have come along and nicked their idea,

so I can see why they would be a bit sore about that.

They are a little bit sore cos we think we are doing a far better job.

OK, let's go to Brian in Poole.

'No, I'm afraid I'm not. I think that they should be banned.'

OK, this is going to be interesting.

Well, the owner of Poundworld, Chris Edwards, who wants to make a..

'Yes, I know and I would say that to his face.'

Well, he is here now - Chris-Brian, Brian-Chris.

Hi, Brian. 'Hi, Chris.'

I'm disappointed you have said that, but...

'It's not a personal thing, Chris.' OK.

'It's a basic principle.

'Too many of these things that are found in shops of your nature

'finish up in a landfill

'and we are supposed to be trying to save the planet,

'but it doesn't seem to be that anybody is.'

We would do anything we could to save the planet.

Unfortunately, we are stuck in a business scenario

where we have got to do what we have got to do.

We compete with Poundland.

We live in a throwaway society, there is no doubt about that.

'That is the trouble.' Let's go to Denise in Salisbury Green,

how are you? 'I'm fine, thank you.'

You are now going to talk to a multi-millionaire, Chris...

Hold on, you haven't looked at my bank statements.

Come on, you own 260 pound stores - are you a millionaire?

No. You are not a millionaire? Nope.

What is the point, then?

Eventually, you never know.

Denise, are you a fan of these pound stores?

'I do use them

'and I think there's too many of them, you know.

'I go to shops and it is all dilapidated-looking

'and they have got food and that in them

'so I think appearances are very important.'

Everything you have just described

is how the pound business used to be.

I would like you to look at one of our stores

and then have maybe a second opinion.

All right, Denise, thank you very much.

Chris might pride himself on his brand image,

but with just a day to go before Southampton's big launch...

The sign guys have turned up, obviously they are going to screw

a very heavy sign to the front and it's plasterboard.

If they screw it to that,

it's going to fall on the floor and kill someone.

..the building work hasn't finished

and a dust cloud is hanging over the store opening.

Because the builders have left quite late,

the dust is still in the air at the moment.

It has been dusty, it's been dirty as anything, basically.

That is the dust that settled last night.

Can we just get a little cloth

where the dust has just settled on the plastics?

A dust bowl of a shop, with no sign above the door,

doesn't scream "opening soon" to shoppers.

Where's the trousers to this?

The trousers are here.

These are all clean, mate, don't you worry! Here you are!

But Charlie has a plan to promote the brand that should turn heads.

This should be double money, this, I tell you!

Right, you ready?

No.

Here we go, then.

Put your arms through first.

What are you doing?

You said put your arms in.

It goes over your head - your head goes all the way inside.

Well, I'm stuck now.

Lift your feet!

Oh, hello!

No offence to you, Percy,

but I would rather not have the hairy arms sticking out.

We will see if there is a T-shirt, all right?

We have come down into Southampton,

hardly anybody knows who Poundworld are, OK?

So this about trying to get the customers who don't know

who we are yet an understanding of what we are doing,

what we are stocking and when we are open.

OK, it is now time to promote it!

Would you like to give Poundworld a kiss?

No. Go on!

Would you like to take one of our leaflets?

No? We open tomorrow. No?

Would you like a photograph, love? Come here, come here.

There we go, yeah.

Poundworld? Poundworld?

We are a little bit different.

No, we're not!

Why don't you come here?

What do you want me to do?

You can give us a kiss on the cheek. All right.

There, how's that? Thanks a lot.

She knows who it is behind here.

New shop, Poundworld, no?

It's the 99p Shop you've got to worry about.

I heard they have got a contract out on me.

Yeah, it's for a quid.

Another pound shop may be a hard sell for Southampton,

but in head office, other businesses can't get enough

of Chris's budget booty.

Two boxes of those.

Yeah, fine, two boxes of those.

His wholesale division has hit ?7 million turnover,

helped by the latest craze.

Do you add a duster to it? Add a duster, no.

You can put a mirror in it or a glass in it. No.

I haven't a clue, I haven't one iota of a clue what it is.

Do you want me to tell you? Yes, oh, tell me.

Yeah, it's when you want to do a selfie.

What is one of them? Don't you know what a selfie is? No.

When you take your own picture.

Oh, crikey, who wants to take their own picture?

What will they think of next?

So, do you want me to get you one? No, I don't think so, not yet.

Are you sure? Positive.

Chris might not have got a sale, but up and down the country,

hundreds of middlemen are now doing the hard graft for him.

If people say, "What do you do?"

My job is I'm a consultant to the leisure industry,

but, really, I sell swag.

I sell swag.

"Sold without a guarantee" - that's the definition of swag.

If there is ever a problem, I do rectify it.

When I can.

Three by itself, thank you.

Jack has come to sell to Nuala,

the owner of a small chain of bingo halls.

Got lots of rubbish with you today?

He's armed with eight full holdalls of swag

from a number of different suppliers.

It's supposed to smell like utopia. It smells like nothing.

50p to play, your blue row is free.

Bingo halls give away free gifts to their repeat customers,

but Jack's not convinced a selfie stick is right for the bingo crowd.

This is the one that I just don't get.

What is it? Is it for your mobile phone?

Oh, don't tell me you like it!

Oh, I love it! I love it!

Oh, my God, I was saying a couple of days ago,

"I've got to get one of these for when we go on holiday for selfies."

I hate it.

I know exactly what it is for.

I hate them. I don't get it, I just don't get...

Fantastic! I like this.

Well, it is ?12, then.

How wonderful is that? Look.

Yeah, it's great.

Come on, Jack! I can get you on as well, see?

You're in the picture now.

There you are, Jack, see?

Four and six, 46.

Nula's initial order for 240 will earn Jack a tidy profit,

but give Nigel's wholesale team an even bigger cut.

I still don't get it. It's a stick. It's a STICK!

But, erm, when I go home,

I think I'll have some humble pie and custard

because he's won that one. Nice one, Nigel!

It's opening day in Southampton. The dust has settled.

But that's just made matters worse.

This is really bad.

If anything, it is looking worse than what it was before.

We are now using floor wipes.

Hopefully, this will do the trick. It's coming out white again.

Can we get a couple more people onto the windows

cos there is one person doing it

and we have got eight people stood around now?

OK, a bit more direction, please.

We are running out of time now. It's a calamity round there.

Chris is on his way to the big south coast launch.

His push to promote their name has paid off -

a crowd has even gathered

in anticipation of Southampton's eighth pound shop.

We've got a pound shop down the road, we've got a 99p shop.

What do we want another one for?

Can I see those scissors? Fantastic. Keep that for me.

THEY CHEER

Good morning, everybody! Grab a basket, one and all.

Baskets are on your left there.

I think it's great. You can do a big shop in here, by the looks of it.

She put me on a limit. I think I've gone over that!

I'm looking for a pie tin.

I've got to make a steak pie for tea.

They haven't got one.

Charlie needn't have worried about the floor -

there are so many people flooding in, no-one can even see it.

It's very busy, yeah, very busy.

And the barcode's not working!

Shoppers are staying for hours to bag the best bargains

because that's how long it takes to get to the tills.

I don't think they've planned it very well,

not really on the opening day.

It puts you off, especially when you have only got a couple of items,

you'll think, "Oh, not worth queueing up for a couple of pound."

It's not the welcome Chris was hoping for.

There's unbelievable queues there.

Yeah, I know and they go right the way down.

What's on my mind is, are we giving a good service?

Are the staff responding to customers?

Is anyone getting fed up, thinking, "I'm not going in there again"?

Go to the till operators and say to them,

"Whizz it through a little bit."

They're not acting like a supermarket checkout,

they're acting as though they've got all the time in the world.

Oh, talk about go-slow in there!

You see, what it is, there's always a pause. Yes.

You've got to make sure you don't have a pause. Don't worry.

And keep shouting people down.

You need to get them to the till as quick as possible

cos people's patience will only last for so long

and you want to offer a better service

than what we're giving at the moment, but there's just too many customers.

Despite the queues, takings are higher than average for an opening -

a kick in the tills for the competition.

Apparently, Poundland's been really dead.

Yeah, it will be now. Because we have opened.

Well, I must admit, I don't like to gloat

but I'm quite satisfied with what I can see in there.

And it is quite obvious people are making a choice.

I think with the response we've had

with this first one on the south coast,

I think we've got to put a load of energy into finding some more

cos if this is the kind of reaction you get on day one,

this usually tells you the story of how the shop will be ongoing

and, quite clearly, it's been well received.

Six months after starting his southern invasion,

Chris has opened shops in Southampton and Havant.

But his competitors still outnumber him by 70 shops to two.

Next time... Cha-ching!

..will Chris be outflanked by a new wave of designer discounters...

It's a bit posher than your average pound shop, isn't it?

..and a Frozen frenzy hits the high street.

I've got everything!

I've created a monster!