Gift Focus - Jul/Aug 2019 (Issue 114)

121 RETAILER INTERVIEW Glorious Glasgow gifts We spoke to Soni Ahmed, managing director of Maia Gifts, about Glaswegian shop life When did Maia Gifts open, and what were your reasons for starting the business? We opened our first location in August 2009, and the original concept was a gift shop and café. The decision to open Maia Gifts happened after we returned from a backpacking trip to India. We had grown tired of our careers and wanted a business that was better suited to the lifestyle we wanted to live. My partner, Samantha, was very passionate about finding special gifts for friends and family and knew that this was something that would help her in making the business a success. How did you choose your bricks-and-mortar location? We were very lucky to have the opportunity to open our first store on Buchanan Street, Scotland’s best shopping destination. This was exciting and nerve-racking at the same time, but we decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up. What have been the biggest challenges of shop life? The biggest challenge of all was getting the business started. In the first five years, it was very high-pressure, with the rent and rates being so high, the demand for us to be successful was huge. We created a store that we were very proud of, but we had to wait to see the response. Thankfully, it was a hit, and we are still going 10 years later. On a personal level, learning to switch off from your business can be very difficult, but we are getting better at it over time. How do you try to stay involved in the local community? What’s special about working in Glasgow? We do a lot to support the local charities. Each month, we offer raffle prizes for various fundraising events around the city. As a city-centre store, there isn’t really a local community around us, but I think we are still seen as a community store by our customers. We know many of them now, and we always enjoy a chat. How does the online store support the bricks-and-mortar shop? When we first started the online store, we didn’t really know what impact it would have on the physical store. We now see that many customers use it as a research tool before coming in to make a purchase. They are well informed about our products and can take in the collection in their own time. How would you describe your customer base? Our customer base is primarily locals who are either city workers or shoppers, but in the summer, we also get a great number of tourists visiting Glasgow and they love the store because of all of the unique and quirky things we stock. Describe your product offering – what do you look for in new items? We have a contemporary, hand-picked selection of gifts ranging from jewellery and home accessories to fun and quirky things. We choose new products based on what we like, never on the strength of a brand. That Samantha and Soni 