Diary Entry – 23rd September 2025

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Welcome to todays diary entry! Clearing the Decks. Today felt like the calm before a very big storm — the kind of day where you know the next couple of weeks are going to be absolutely relentless, so you start laying the groundwork now to try and make it all run as smoothly as possible. Most of my time was spent focusing on the shop turnaround that’s scheduled for next week, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that preparation is everything when it comes to big projects like this.

We started clearing out sections of the showroom today, boxing up displays, dismantling fixtures, and moving anything that doesn’t absolutely need to be there. It’s always a strange feeling seeing the shop stripped back — a bit like taking all the furniture out of a house before you move. It looks bare and empty, but at the same time, you can already picture what’s coming and the improvements that are going to transform the space.

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There’s a lot more to a refit than people probably realise. It’s not just about painting walls and moving shelves around — there are so many moving parts that all need to line up perfectly. New racking has to arrive at the right time, signage needs to be printed, flooring delivered, display units built, stock reorganised, and a million other tiny details that need to fall into place. And of course, all of this is happening while we’re still trading and still trying to run the business as normal. It’s a real juggling act.

I spent a lot of the day on the phone and emailing back and forth with suppliers, couriers, and installers, trying to make sure delivery dates line up and nothing goes missing in transit. There’s nothing worse than reaching the middle of a big project and realising you’re waiting on one crucial piece of the puzzle that hasn’t turned up. So the focus today was firmly on getting ahead of those problems before they happen.

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Despite the long list of jobs, there’s a real sense of excitement about it all. This shop refit has been a long time coming — something I’ve wanted to do for ages — and it’s going to make such a huge difference to how the space looks and works. The plan is to make everything more logical, more visually appealing, and ultimately, more enjoyable for customers to shop in. We’ve learned a lot over the last few seasons about how people browse, where they stop, and what draws their attention, and all of that insight is going into the new layout.

It’s also symbolic in a way — the refit marks the start of the transition from one season to the next. The big shows are nearly behind us now, and soon we’ll shift gears into winter prep, clearance, and eventually getting ready for the new ranges. It’s like closing one chapter and starting another.

By the time we locked up today, we’d made good progress — big chunks of the showroom are now cleared and ready for what’s coming next week. There’s still a mountain of work to do, but it’s satisfying to see the first steps in motion. The next seven days are going to be chaotic, no doubt about that, but if we can keep on top of things like we did today, then hopefully the end result will be well worth it.

It’s the start of the final push now — one more big project before the countdown to Morocco really kicks into gear. And even though it’s exhausting just thinking about it, I can’t help but feel excited to see how far we can take things before the year is out.

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